General Hisham Amna, Minister of Local Development, held a meeting in the presence of Dr Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, General Mohamed Salah, Minister of Military Production, General Ahmed Rashid, Governor of Giza, and General Nasser Fawzy, Director of the National Center for State Land Use Planning, at the Ministry of Development headquarters in the presence of several leaders of the ministries and Giza Governorate.

The meeting witnessed a review of the latest developments related to establishing a power plant to treat municipal solid waste and convert it into electric energy in Abu Rawash. General Hisham Amna affirmed the Ministry’s keenness to coordinate with Giza Governorate to quickly complete the necessary licenses for the land on which the project will be built to ensure its success. After allocating the land, the Ministry of Local Development will follow up on all the project’s executive stages until the station’s operation. Especially with the directives of the President and his support for projects to convert waste to energy and the expansion of new and renewable energy projects to preserve the environment, pointing out that the project will represent a major shift in the field of dealing with municipal solid waste and within the framework of the new waste system. This new project will improve the state’s efforts in dealing with the daily generated waste in Giza Governorate instead of burying it in landfills.

For his part, Dr Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, stressed the interest of the Egyptian state in clean energy and the use of various sources, especially renewable energy in the energy field, in addition to the use of waste to produce electric energy, which serves two important goals to preserve the environment and open investment fields in the field of electric energy production and enhance that. The general strategy for energy, as well as the development of electricity transmission and distribution networks to receive these capacities resulting from the production of electricity from waste, in addition to encouraging the private sector to invest, whether in the field of energy production from renewable sources or the use of waste in the production of electricity.

For her part, Dr Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, confirmed the importance of projects to convert waste into electric energy, noting that there is great interest by the Egyptian state and the government headed by Dr Mostafa Madbouly to implement the program for converting waste into electric energy, which directed the necessity of accelerating the pace of implementing this type of important project. The Minister of the Environment stated that this project aims to create a healthy and clean environment, achieve an economic return, and produce usable electric energy, as these projects help reduce the amount of waste that is buried in landfills, provide land areas that are allocated for the establishment of landfills, and avoid accumulations inside Governorates that lead to environmental damage and emissions, pointing out a tariff has been approved for converting waste into energy, at a value of 140 piasters per kilowatt, following Electricity Feed Tariff Resolution No. 41 of 2019, in cooperation with the Ministries of Local Development, Electricity and Energy. And Dr Yasmine Fouad said that the way is open for private investors from all over the Arab Republic of Egypt to invest in this field. The first company has submitted the environmental impact assessment study for the project, which has been reviewed and approved. 

For his part, General Mohamed Salah, Minister of Military Production, affirmed the keenness of the various ministries and concerned authorities to implement the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, regarding raising the efficiency of the municipal waste system, overcoming the problems of waste accumulation and safe disposal, and taking the necessary measures to preserve the environment through a new system for integrated waste management, praising the efforts and role of the Ministry of Local Development in coordinating with the rest of the participating parties in implementing the new system to speed up the implementation of its various programs according to the timeline, He also praised the role of all partners in the system, for cooperation in the field of establishing stations for converting municipal solid waste into electric energy, the plant will be established in Abu Rawash, Giza Governorate, on an area of ​​10-12 acres. Minister Mohamed Salah explained that this meeting comes in light of the follow-up to the implementation of the project to convert municipal solid waste into electric energy, explaining that the project aims to treat 1.200 tons/day of municipal solid waste to 30 megawatts/hour. Which works to achieve an economic return from the waste recycling process, stressing the ministry’s eagerness to transfer advanced technologies within its companies and units in various manufacturing fields. As well as to cooperate with national and international companies specialised in waste management in implementing this type of project, which will reduce imports and provide foreign currency to enhance the national economy. During the meeting, General Ahmed Rashid, Governor of Giza, presented all the efforts made by the governorate in coordination with the concerned ministries.