Israel Talks Solar With Egypt, Biofuel With Jordan
Date: 22-Feb-10
Country: ISRAEL
Author: Tova Cohen
TEL AVIV - Israel has started talks with Egypt about possibly establishing a joint solar project in Egypt's Sinai Desert, Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Thursday.
Ben-Eliezer raised the idea during a recent visit to Egypt with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the minister told a renewable energy conference in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
According to Ben-Eliezer, the project would provide energy for both Israel and Egypt.
"Egypt has the requisite space and Israel would contribute its technological know-how," he said. "In our discussions with President Mubarak, he expressed much interest in the idea and we will be working together with Egyptian government representatives to advance the idea."
Egypt's Sinai Desert has clear skies, flat topography and annual average solar concentration of 2,300 KWh per square meter making it suitable for the installation of commercial solar technologies.
Also speaking at the conference, Salah Azzam, director of the Bio-Fuels Division at the National Energy Research Center in Jordan, outlined his plans for the establishment of an Israeli-Jordanian bio-diesel plant by the end of 2010.
The plant would be built along the border between Jordan and Israel and will be operated by representatives from both countries.
"This project could serve as a great boost for establishing peace and security in the region and could promote peace efforts between Israel and its neighbors," Azzam said.
