The memorandum of understanding signed on Sunday on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh between Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Cairo Centre for Industrial Modernization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Islamic Education Organization, Science and Culture.
According to the MoU, the parties will cooperate in the implementation of solar PV pilot projects, adding the installation of small-scale solar power plants in museums and cultural heritage sites.
The MoU also states that SCA will receive training in the skills required to oversee the implementation and maintenance of solar stations.
The memorandum of understanding also provides support for solar power and energy power knowledge systems and for archaeological and heritage studies to be carried out at the various sites where solar power plants will be installed.
SCA Secretary General Mostafa Waziri said the memorandum of understanding is a component of the ministry’s plan for Egypt’s museums and archaeological sites to become green sites that rely on solar energy as a more sustainable and economically viable option for electric power, and contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage.
Waziri explained that the SCA introduced several projects in 2005 for the environment, adding groundwater point reduction to the temples of Karnak, Luxor, Habu, Ramessium, Seti, AmenhotepII, Kom Ombo and Edfu.
Work has been undertaken to reduce groundwater levels in the Kom El-Shoqafa catacombs in Alexandria.
The SCA also began operating electric buses some years ago at several archaeological sites, adding the Valley of the Kings, Deir al-Bahari in Luxor, the Abu Simbel temples in Aswan and the citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo.