GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Increasingly, solar energy is used as an alternative source of electricity generation in the Gaza Strip, which continues to suffer from the ongoing power crisis. While many hospitals, health care centers, schools and public outdoor spaces use solar energy, only households in affluent neighborhoods have access to this expensive alternative.
Mohammed Thabet, director of public relations at Gaza Electricity Distribution Corporation, told Al-Monitor that there are three sources of electric power supply in Gaza: 10 power lines from Israel with 120 megawatts (MW), two power lines from Egypt with 25 MW, and Gaza’s local power plant (GPP) that generates 60 MW.
He said, “These sources combined, which provide 205 MW of electricity, do not meet the population’s power supply needs that equal a total of 450 MW. This implies an ongoing power deficit of 55%.”
To overcome the electric power crisis, 40 solar-powered lights were installed by the Palestinian Energy and National Resources Authority (PENRA) in a number of streets and at intersections in Gaza City on March 16. Three days earlier, the Kuwaiti Hospital in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was supplied with 13 photovoltaic cells. This came as part of the most recent local project for power generation and the bridging of electric power.
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