Solar Electricity Generation for Health and Education Facilities and Households in the Gaza Strip

Palestine

This project pertains to installing off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems for solar electricity generation for a number of selected health and education facilities as well as a number of local households in the Gaza Strip. The systems for public institutions was financed through outright grants; whereas the beneficiary households will have the systems installed through a different financing model, with incentives being offered under certain conditions. A substantial part of the proposed grant constituted the seed of a revolving fund which, upon the repayment of the loans, will continue to help expand the project to benefit more households in the same manner. The project responded in a very good manner to one of the key challenges faced by Palestinians in Gaza; electricity cuts and the lack of alternative energy sources. The project installed PV systems in 5 schools, 2 hospitals, 167 households through the loans’ facility, and 10 households that benefitted from outright grants. The beneficiaries of this project are estimated at tens of thousands of Palestinians who use the beneficiary public facilities each year, in addition to those who benefitted directly through households systems.