EIB finances 35 MW of rooftop solar at West Bank schools

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide a USD-18-million (EUR 15.8) loan to finance the installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems totalling 35 MW on public schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it was announced last week.

The loan agreement signed with the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) will benefit 500 local schools which will use the electricity at no cost to them. The PV installations will be capable of generating enough power to meet the consumption needs of 16,000 households in the West Bank. The PIF’s infrastructure subsidiary Massader will carry out the project, and later sell the excess electricity to local distribution companies.

The 35 MW of capacity in the first stage of the Schools’ Rooftop Programme, as it is called, will be rolled out over three years, according to Massader’s website.

The rooftop project is part of a broader Noor Palestine solar programme which the PIF launched eyeing 200 MW of installations over six years. The investment is estimated at USD 200 million. The programme includes three medium-sized solar parks, currently in the construction phase, in the West Bank.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.88)

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