Ceremony inaugurating the schools rooftop solar panels in Deir Dibwan. (Photo courtesy of PIF)

RAMALLAH, Thursday, July 11, 2019 (WAFA) - The Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) inaugurated on Tuesday at a school in Deir Dibwan, near Ramallah, phase 1 of the rooftop solar energy program in ceremony attended by the Governor of Ramallah, the Ministry of Education, the Energy Authority and the Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO).

This is the first joint program between PIF and the Ministry of Education to cover the roofs of 500 schools in the West Bank with solar panels to produce electricity.

PIF Board Chairman Mohammed Mustafa said this program will be at a cost of $35 million dollars and will produce 38 megawatt of electricity as part of the larger Noor Palestine project, which aims to reach a production capacity of 200 MW in electricity in eight years, equivalent to 17% of the total needs of Palestine of electricity, and at an investment of up to $200 million.

The program includes the construction of solar power plants in Jericho, Tubas and Jenin, with a capacity of 5 to 7 MW per station.

Electricity produced by the solar panels on the roofs of the schools will cover the needs of the schools themselves from electricity and the surplus will be sold to distribution companies in the school area, such as JDECO, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company, the Tubas Electricity Company and the Southern Electricity Company as well as municipalities.

Mustafa said that PIF established companies to develop these projects. One is Injaz Al-Quds Solar Company which was established in partnership with the JDECO to develop solar energy systems on the roofs of schools located in its concession area that included Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho districts.

The project is expected to reduce the annual electricity bill of the participating schools by $1.2 million, as well as raising the quality of the educational environment in Palestine through the use of clean energy on the roofs of public schools.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) have signed in March a loan agreement worth $18 million to finance the installation of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems on 500 public schools in the West Bank.

Mustafa also disclosed ongoing talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, to obtain a loan to cover the remaining funding for the project.

M.K.