Norway has signed agreements worth $6.6 million with the Palestinian Authority to rehabilitate an electricity transformer substation in the besieged Gaza Strip and provide solar power to schools in Jerusalem. The Chairman of the PA Energy and Natural Resources Authority, Zafer Melhem, and Norway’s Representative in Palestine Torunn Viste signed the agreements in Ramallah on Tuesday.
The Special Representative of the Director-General of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Yvonne Healy, was present at the signing ceremony.
The first agreement is for $4.6m to rehabilitate the substation in Gaza. The second aims to provide 15 schools with solar energy, as well as maintain and rehabilitate schools in Jerusalem.
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Melhem thanked Norway for its continuous and generous support. “We are working in accordance with the government’s vision to enhance the sources of renewable energy and develop the power transmission networks,” he added.
Viste, meanwhile, responded by explaining that the agreements aim to support and promote the energy sector in Palestine, improve the lives of the Palestinian people and achieve renewable energy and energy independence. She affirmed that support for the energy sector in Palestine is part of Norway’s political commitment towards building state institutions.