The Ministry of Military Production and several foreign energy companies are currently evaluating the possibility of constructing a factory to manufacture solar panels used to produce electricity, according to the ministry’s Deputy Minister Hassan Abdel Mageed.
During the third Annual Energy Conference sponsored by Business News Egypt and entitled “Energy and Sustainable Development”, Abdel Mageed said the study of developing a solar panel factory is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
According to the Ministry of Military Production’s plan, the factory will manufacture all the components used for solar panels, including the manufacture of solar cells extracted from sand.
The construction of such factories aims to provide the needs of the local market for solar panels and to potentially export such panels abroad.
Abdel Mageed said the ministry will be involved in the state’s development plan through its participation in establishing a number of factories that manufacture components of electricity and oil industries.
The ministry has finished a production line of solar panels with capacity of 50 MW annually, likely to reach 100 MW by 2020, according to Abdel Mageed.
The ministry has also finished a production line of energy saving LED light bulbs that has the capacity to produce 5m light bulbs and other lights annually, in addition to another production line for electric meters that has the capacity to put out 300,000 meters annually.
Abdel Mageed pointed out that the ministry plans to establish a production line of smart electricity meters with the capacity of producing 1m smart meters per year over the next five years, so that local production reaches 100% by the end of 2020.
