Ambassador Muhammad Al-Emadi, Chairman of the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, said today, Sunday, that the committee has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority and the Gaza Electricity Generation Company, to operate the Gaza Power Plant with gas.
And the official website of the Gaza Reconstruction Committee of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Al-Emadi as saying that the memorandum of understanding was signed by Dhafer Melhem, representing the Palestinian Energy Authority, and Walid Suleiman, representing the Gaza Electricity Generating Company.
The memorandum includes mechanisms for the supply and purchase of gas necessary to operate the only power plant in Gaza.
The Qatari committee will finance the construction of the gas pipeline from the supplier company to the borders of the Gaza Strip, at a cost of $60 million, according to the official website.
It is scheduled that the Gaza Electricity Generating Company and the Palestinian Energy Authority will convert the plant to operate on gas as an alternative to liquid fuel.
Under the agreement, "it was agreed that the Energy Authority and the Electricity Generating Company would increase the production capacity of the power plant to reach a minimum of 500 megawatts, to meet the future electricity needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip."
The volume of demand for electric power in Gaza ranges between 500 and 550 megawatts, at a time when only half of the capacity is currently available, and sometimes 25%, and this depends on the abundance of fuel needed to generate power.