Al-Mashat: This project is in line with applying the concepts of sustainable tourism
Attention to renewable and green energy raises the competitiveness of the Egyptian tourist destination
By Akram Medhat
JW Marriott Cairo today witnessed the inauguration of the first solar power plant on the hotel's rooftops, making it the first hotel establishment to use this technology in Egypt.
In this context, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism, said that many tour operators are heading to tourist destinations that place preserving the environment among their priorities, focusing on whether hotels have an environmental dimension, especially amid the global trend of attention to renewable and green energy. She noted that implementing these important and modern concepts plays a role in raising the global competitiveness of the Egyptian tourist destination.
This came during the press conference announcing the inauguration of the first solar power plant at the JW Marriott hotel, making it the first in Egypt to use this energy source, in pursuit of the sustainable development goals.
The conference was attended by Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy; Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment; Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Country Director in Cairo; Mounir Ghabbour, Chairman of Mirage Company, owner of JW Marriott; and Magued Fawzy, Head of the Chamber of Hotel Establishments.
Al-Mashat praised the fact that 2019 marks the launch of this project, which has an important environmental and tourism dimension and is a model in step with modern global trends in environmental preservation. It is in line with the sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations, which the ministry is applying in the Egyptian tourism sector with the aim of achieving sustainable tourism, amid growing interest in green tourism activities, the expansion of ecotourism and the use of clean energy technologies, which raises the competitiveness of the hotel sector.
She touched on the projects carried out by the Green Tourism Unit at the Ministry of Tourism that set important standards for preserving the environment and energy, such as the Green Star certification project for hotels, and stressed the importance of various partnerships between government bodies, as well as with the private sector and various local and international institutions.
For her part, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, praised the event, as this project is an important model supporting the state's efforts on climate change. She explained that the tourism, electricity and energy sectors are all affected by climate change, which is primarily a development challenge with a major impact in the short and long term, adding that what was announced today confirms that the government is not alone in tackling this problem, but that there is an aware, capable and globally competitive private sector.
In a related context, Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said that building such plants is in line with the ministry's strategy to spread the use of solar energy in various sectors, explaining that the ministry's plan aims for 20% of total generated energy to come from renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydropower plants by 2020, rising to 42% by 2035.
Eng. Emad Hassan, Advisor to the Minister of Tourism for Energy and Sustainable Development, noted that this project is one of the models being implemented to encourage hotels to use photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, to reduce operating costs, apply sustainable tourism concepts and limit the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
He added that the Ministry of Tourism coordinated with the Egypt PV project for grid-connected photovoltaic systems, part of the Industrial Modernization Centre, and the United Nations Development Programme, to provide technical support to the JW Marriott hotel, with a partial contribution to the cost of building the plant funded by the Global Environment Facility. He noted that the plant's capacity is 150 kilowatts and that it is the first solar power plant built on the rooftops of a Cairo hotel.
Hassan revealed that there is an agreement to build similar plants in 9 other hotels in various tourist areas, to boost the spread of solar energy use in the hotel sector.
In her speech, Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Country Director, explained that the aim of this project is to spread the use of small power generation systems, to build on the Egyptian government's successes in establishing giant solar power plants in line with Egypt's sustainable development plan. She stressed the importance of raising awareness among citizens about using solar energy technology, adding that these projects have many social dimensions, including motivating young people, supporting the establishment of small businesses, creating job opportunities and increasing specialized cadres in the solar energy field.
On another note, Mounir Ghabbour, head of Mirage Company, owner of JW Marriott, praised this project, which helps reduce the hotel's operating expenses, building on the 2015 project to convert the hotel's lighting systems to energy-saving LED technology, which saved about 25% of the hotel's total electricity consumption.
