A Palestinian study reported that 87% of Palestine’s electricity is imported from the Israeli Electricity Company, indicating the need to develop the sustainable energy sector to reduce this percentage.
This came in a study by the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) on “The transition to renewable energy in Palestine through providing policy recommendations and launching an informed dialogue in the national media,” a copy of which was received by Tel Aviv Tribune Net.
The study is part of a project that aims to promote the transition to renewable energy in Palestine and provide actionable policy recommendations for decision-makers in the national and local sectors.
The MAS study stated that Palestine’s almost complete dependence (87%) on electricity imported from the Israeli Electricity Company “strengthens economic dependence and burdens the Palestinian government due to the Israeli company’s control over supplies and their incompatibility with local needs.”
According to the study, the Palestinian government seeks to develop the regulatory framework and policies, improve the sustainable energy sector, and reduce imports by 50% by 2030.
Better revenue
It concludes that Palestinian revenues will be 4.5 times higher when generating electricity locally from solar power plants through power purchase agreements, compared to the cost of importing electricity from the Israeli Electricity Company.
However, she pointed out the challenges facing this sector, most notably geopolitical restrictions, including the Oslo divisions of Palestinian lands and the difficulty of benefiting from Area C, which constitutes about 61% of the West Bank and is under complete Israeli control, and gaps in the complex legislative environment, which affects the structure of the sector, increasing its complexity and hindering investment in it.
One of the challenges related to the occupation’s control over Area C is the issue of building traffic lines, as it requires approvals from the occupation, which prevents or delays the construction of new lines or even prevents maintenance work on existing lines.
According to the data of the Energy and Natural Resources Authority for the year 2022, the amount of imported and locally produced electrical energy amounted to approximately 7,923.74 gigawatt-hours, of which approximately 86.4% was imported from the Israel Electric Corporation, while 7.7% was produced from the power station in the Gaza Strip and 3.6% from renewable energy sources, and 2.3% was purchased from Jordan.
Limited production
Solar energy is one of the most important sources of renewable energy in Palestine, accounting for about 63% of the total renewable energy produced in 2021, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
Although Palestine has a high number of sunshine hours, approaching 3,000 hours per year, and the potential to generate larger quantities of renewable energy, production is limited to small and medium-sized solar energy projects that have been implemented in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It explains that the amount of energy produced from these projects in 2022 amounted to about 287.6 gigawatt hours, with 230 gigawatt hours in the West Bank and 57.6 gigawatt hours in the Gaza Strip. According to data from the Energy and Natural Resources Authority for 2023, the potential for generating solar energy in Palestine is estimated at about 4,174 megawatts.
According to the study, energy demand will almost double to reach 12.85 terawatt-hours in 2030, compared to what is available in 2021 (6.93 terawatt-hours). Consequently, there will be a large gap between the amount of electricity supplied and the amount required to meet the need, especially in the Gaza Strip, indicating an increase in electricity demand by 7% annually.
The study recommended “reducing reliance on imported energy, strengthening the legislative framework, integrating centralized and decentralized energy systems, and developing new tools to support renewable energy projects.”
According to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for 2015, more than 60% of Palestinian homes have solar heating systems, the highest installation rate in the Middle East.
