224 J. OBEID
But overcoming the land, grid, and financing challenges is challenging.
The Palestinian Energy Authority has put in place a revolving fund,
through seed money from Agence Française de Developpement (AFD),
allowing the authority to get the money back through the savings accrued
by the end-user from the installation of rooftop solar. To ensure mass
implementation, the government is seeking to use the available rooftops
and connecting them to the local grid. This is happening through
targeting the roofs of 500 schools with spaces providing for 50–100 MW.
A share of the produced electricity will be used on-site, whereas the
remaining share is sold to the distribution grid. The first part of the
project comprising 50 schools has been launched.
Furthermore, the PA is pushing 24 ministries to implement rooftop
solar systems, but the key hurdle is the funding availability since each
ministry will have to finance its own system.
Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine have adopted net-metering, enabling
the surplus of electricity generated from renewable energy systems to
be transferred to the utility grid, and allowing customers to offset the
cost of electricity consumed from the utility. Jordan took a significant
step forward and endorsed power wheeling, which Lebanon is currently
discussing, enabling the implementation of renewable energy in one site
and offsetting the electricity usage in another site through the usage of
the utility’s transmission lines.
Donors and international community have provided conditional
support linked to the government’s commitment toward renewables, to
overcome policy gridlock and build momentum. This support took the
form of technical support, provision of international experts, development
of national studies, and assistance in financing and attraction of private
investment.
Given that these countries face high political and economic risk,
attracting foreign direct investment and private funding is a challenge,
there has instead been a large reliance on remittances and aid. Foreign
grants have played a role in pilot projects demonstrating the benefits
of renewables across different sectors. They have enabled the deployment in public institutions; schools, health clinics, etc., and provided
incentives in terms of subsidized costs for the commercial and industrial sectors early adopters. To name a few, in Lebanon and since 2008,
UNDP, through multitude of funds, including Spanish, Dutch, and EU
grants, has piloted renewable energy in private industries, public schools,
hospitals, and community centers. In 1996, Jordan’s first commercial
But overcoming the land, grid, and financing challenges is challenging.
The Palestinian Energy Authority has put in place a revolving fund,
through seed money from Agence Française de Developpement (AFD),
allowing the authority to get the money back through the savings accrued
by the end-user from the installation of rooftop solar. To ensure mass
implementation, the government is seeking to use the available rooftops
and connecting them to the local grid. This is happening through
targeting the roofs of 500 schools with spaces providing for 50–100 MW.
A share of the produced electricity will be used on-site, whereas the
remaining share is sold to the distribution grid. The first part of the
project comprising 50 schools has been launched.
Furthermore, the PA is pushing 24 ministries to implement rooftop
solar systems, but the key hurdle is the funding availability since each
ministry will have to finance its own system.
Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine have adopted net-metering, enabling
the surplus of electricity generated from renewable energy systems to
be transferred to the utility grid, and allowing customers to offset the
cost of electricity consumed from the utility. Jordan took a significant
step forward and endorsed power wheeling, which Lebanon is currently
discussing, enabling the implementation of renewable energy in one site
and offsetting the electricity usage in another site through the usage of
the utility’s transmission lines.
Donors and international community have provided conditional
support linked to the government’s commitment toward renewables, to
overcome policy gridlock and build momentum. This support took the
form of technical support, provision of international experts, development
of national studies, and assistance in financing and attraction of private
investment.
Given that these countries face high political and economic risk,
attracting foreign direct investment and private funding is a challenge,
there has instead been a large reliance on remittances and aid. Foreign
grants have played a role in pilot projects demonstrating the benefits
of renewables across different sectors. They have enabled the deployment in public institutions; schools, health clinics, etc., and provided
incentives in terms of subsidized costs for the commercial and industrial sectors early adopters. To name a few, in Lebanon and since 2008,
UNDP, through multitude of funds, including Spanish, Dutch, and EU
grants, has piloted renewable energy in private industries, public schools,
hospitals, and community centers. In 1996, Jordan’s first commercial