02 Aug Egypt
WorldWater designed, engineered and executed a pilot project which involves two solar powered irrigation systems in The Sahara Desert.
One system is at a 70 acre farm near Wadi El Natrun, where a 135 KW array drives a 150 hp pump to draw water from a depth of 200 meters (657 feet). The flow rate at that site is 159,000 liters (42,000 gallons) per hour.
The other farm, near Farafra Oasis, is 200 acres, where a 200 KW array drives a 250 hp pump.
Using our proprietary inter-connection technology, we can run such large horsepower pumps that are off-grid, as well as grid-connected, very efficiently from clean solar energy. These pilot projects are a game changing proposition to agribusinesses everywhere.
Dr. Davinder Sethi, Chief Operating Officer of WorldWater
We expect next year to be doing between 20,000 acres to 40,000 acres in the desert. We’ll be first converting diesel powered irrigation to solar, and then taking desert land and converting it into arable land. Bear in mind that the Government of Egypt’s plan is to increase the desert farm lands by about 2.5 million acres over the coming five years.
Ahmed Zahran, CEO, KarmSolar.
