AMMAN, Wednesday, January 15, 2020 (WAFA) - The Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO) and the Jordanian National Electricity Company signed today in the Jordanian capital, Amman, an agreement to raise Palestine’s electricity supply capacity by bolstering the electrical connection between them that would allow an increase in the quantity of current exported to Palestine from 26 MW to 80 MW.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Hala Zawati, the head of the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority, Thafer Melhem, the director general of the National Electricity Company, Amjad al-Rawashda, and the director general of JDECO, Hisham Omari.

Melhem told WAFA that there were many reasons that prompted the Palestinians to rely on the Arab countries to diversify Palestinian energy sources. He said that this project will raise the capacity of the electrical system in Palestine to 80 megawatts, expecting to complete the project within seven months.

Zawati stressed the importance of this step in strengthening cooperation between Jordan and Palestine, and within the framework of Jordan‘s aspiration to have electricity exchange for commercial reasons with neighboring Arab countries in a way that enhances the stability of the Jordanian electrical system and serves the aspiration for a common Arab market.

Rawashda said the agreement constitutes the second stage of the joint linkage between the two countries, stressing the importance of the project in achieving additional revenues for the National Electricity Company.

The Palestinians have been looking at neighboring Arab countries to diversify their energy resources in order to end their full reliance on Israel, which often uses this dependency to extort the Palestinians.

M.K.