On Sunday, October 31^st, 2021, a site visit was made to the MAIA-TAQA project pilot area, El-Amreya Wholesale Fruits and Vegetable Market in Alexandria, Egypt. The visit to the pilot area was conducted for the commissioning of the standby battery system for the market's management building. The visit was led by Prof. Dr. Mohamed Elsobki, technical expert and consultant of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, as well as a representative of our partner, the Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations CEEBA, and was attended by ONERA Systems, the awarded Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contractor, as well as the market's management and technical staff.

During the visit, ONERA demonstrated the installed battery system, which has a capacity of nearly 55 kWh and can support a full load of power for nearly 9 hours. The technical consultant of MAIA-TAQA in Egypt verified multiple components such as connections, labelling of the various parts of the system, main operation steps, and emergency steps, and confirmed their compliance with general and technical working regulations. Furthermore, the team conducted a site tour to determine the best location for the installation of the anticipated 100-kilowatt peak PV system, as well as to identify the PV system's connection points.

The El-Amreya Wholesale Market management team has yet to make the installation space available, which will be done as soon as they receive approval from the governmental authorities represented by the Alexandria Electricity Distribution Company. This process is expected to be completed in order for ONERA to begin the installation of the PV system near the end of November or in the early weeks of December.

Stay tuned as the project progresses and more developments arise in the different pilot areas of the MAIA-TAQA project in Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon aiming to increase quality of life for all.