Egypt's first solar-powered gas station has started operating in downtown Cairo. An official inauguration is set to take place before the end of September.

The station belongs to Misr Petroleum, the national distributor of petroleum products, which is launching a pilot project aiming to convert more of its stations to solar energy to reduce consumption of traditional fuel and avoid service suspension during power cuts.

The station uses a system that allows storage of an energy surplus generated during the day to allow the station to operate throughout the night.

The project is being implemented by private company Smart Engineering Solutions in cooperation with publicly-held Sianco.

Officials at the ministries of petroleum and electricity have recently presented renewable energy, especially solar energy, as a way out of Egypt's energy crisis.

The government has also announced that it will fix feed-in tariffs for renewable energy in order to encourage private investors to pour money into the underdeveloped sector in Egypt.

Last year, the name of the electricity ministry was modified to include renewable energy in the title.

Egypt has witnessed increasing electricity cuts over the last few years, manifested in frequent blackouts and fuel shortages.

The government held a three day conference this week in collaboration with private companies operating in the field of renewable energy to find solutions for the country's energy crisis.

Experts and officials at the conference agreed that solar energy is a viable option for Egypt.

"We were the first in the region to start using solar energy, but were left behind," said Mohamed Omran, undersecretary at the electricity ministry.