Picture PEA
The Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) has begun to reform its electricity sector in a bid to improve efficiency. Among the target areas, obviously, is the choice of renewable energy sources to diversify supply and reduce the sums it pays to the Israeli Electricity Company (IEC) and, by the same token, reduce its dependence on the company.
Massader, the infrastructure and natural resources development arm of Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), has signed an agreement with the PEA and the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education under which solar panels will be installed on the roofs of 500 state schools.
Costing $35M, this first phase of the project will provide a combined generating capacity of 35MW (70kW per school), 4% of the power currently purchased from the IEC. Of this, 18% will be used to power the schools and the excess will be sold to the utility companies. The project is being overseen by the Palestinian Energy and Environment Research Centre (PEC), an institution set up in 1993 and affiliated to the PEA, which coordinates all aspects of the development of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and environmental protection in Palestine.
