CAIRO: Egypt marked the end of the 10th World Energy Conference and Renewable Energy Exhibition on Wednesday, where more than 600 new and renewable energy experts along with heads of major international corporations, financial organizations, and development funds convened to discuss future prospects for Egypt's wind energy sector. “This is a move that will deepen the Egyptian industries in various promising sectors,” said Galal Zorba, president of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and the President of the Euro-Mediterranean alliance. “Egypt and other countries of North Africa will have the opportunity to produce green energy and export it to the European Union, this idea is also part of the solar energy plan of the Mediterranean Union.” Zorba added that the conference included a specialized seminar on ways to finance and develop the new and renewable energy projects, organized by the Euro-Mediterranean “MedAlliance” and the Federation of Euro-Mediterranean “BusinessMed” with support from the European Union. The discussions included Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, Arab League Secretary Nabil El-Araby, Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis, as well as several members of Egypt's interim government. According to Galal Osman, head of the Egyptian Federation of Wind Energy, the conference brought together the latest technology experts to discuss more than 150 working papers on the topics of new and renewable energies. Osman explained that this year's focus would be to take advantage of the vast deserts in the country in order to harvest energy that would turn these areas into green powerhouses. In past years, the conference has been held in Germany, South Africa, China, Australia, India and Canada, Osman pointed out. This year however, officials sought to hold the conference in Egypt as a symbol of the immense opportunities that lie ahead for the country's renewable energy sector. “Egypt has passed the stage of technology transfer to manufacture the components for wind farms, we've began manufacturing the turbines already and we will do likewise for solar applications,” said Mahmoud Issa, minister of industry and foreign trade, who was also at the conference. Issa added the Ministry of Scientific Research would also be cooperating with international experts in order to create technologies suitable for local use as well as for exporting. Faiza Aboul Naga, minister of planning and international cooperation, said that the ministry is currently seeking partnerships from banks and developments to help fund the process of establishing technologies that will allow Egypt to export green energy through the electrical linkage with the EU.
