TDA GRANT SUPPORTS RENEWABLE ENERGY, PALESTINIAN

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000134 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/IPA, EEB, AND S/P; COMMERCE FOR WEIGLER; NSC FOR KUMAR, TDA FOR KRESS AND HUBBARD; OPIC FOR DRUMHELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAID EINV ENRG KWBG KPAL SUBJECT: TDA GRANT SUPPORTS RENEWABLE ENERGY, PALESTINIAN ENTREPRENEUR REF: 09 JERUSALEM 2072 ¶1. Summary. At a January 20 signing ceremony attended by press and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, the U.S. Trade Development Agency (TDA) awarded a nearly $440,000 grant to support the development of a high efficiency, alternative energy heating and cooling system for an affordable housing development outside Ramallah (reftel). The grantee company, MENA Geothermal, is headed by a young Palestinian-Canadian entrepreneur who developed the first use of commercial geothermal energy in the Middle East and North Africa region, in a Ramallah office building. End Summary. ¶2. The $438,682 grant, signed by the Consul General on behalf of TDA, will support a feasibility study for a district geothermal heating and cooling system at a planned 522-unit affordable housing complex outside Ramallah. MENA Geothermal has developed several other projects that use the technology on a smaller scale, including its Ramallah office building, a high-end housing development on the outskirts of Ramallah, and, soon, an Israeli NGO building in West Jerusalem. Note: Geothermal systems pump water for heating and cooling systems through an underground loop to keep the water at a constant temperature, which means it is cooled less in summer and heated less in winter. End Note. The technology is estimated to decrease energy consumption and costs by up to 70%, an increasingly important point for affordable housing in the West Bank, which suffers from comparatively high energy costs. ¶3. In his remarks at the event which was covered by a wide range of local press, Khaled Sabawi, president of MENA Geothermal, appealed to the PA and its Minister of Planning, Ali Jirbawi, for assistance with infrastructure needs at new housing developments. He stressed that it would be difficult to maintain affordable prices at new developments without PA funding of access roads, water, electricity, and water treatment. RUBINSTEIN