Supporting the Development of a New EE/RE Financing Facility in West Bank and Gaza

Econoler was granted a new exciting opportunity by the Agence française de développement (AFD) to conduct a market and feasibility study on the establishment of the SUNREF Facility, AFD’s green financing label, in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza). Econoler will carry out this project in partnership with ESCOM, a local firm specialized in electrical infrastructure and lighting systems.

Palestine’s energy sector is under pressure due to a demographic growth estimated by the World Bank at around 3% in the last five years, increased living standards and rapid industrial progress. The energy sector is almost entirely dependent on imported power supply, with 88% from the Israel Electric Company and 3% from Jordan and Egypt. Improved energy efficiency and mass exploitation of renewable energy is required to ensure cheap, reliable and sustainable energy coverage. Hence, the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority (PENRA) issued a renewable energy strategy that aims to achieve 10% of electricity production from renewable sources by 2020 and the National EE Plan set a goal of 384 GWh of electricity savings by 2020, with around 95% being planned in the buildings sector.

The capital investment cost forecasted to achieve the savings in small- and medium-sized enterprises and the residential sector is estimated at more than EUR 200 million. Therefore, there is a need for a robust financing facility to serve as an intermediary between local financial institutions and beneficiaries.

Econoler will be in charge of assessing the regulatory framework and making recommendations for enabling EE/RE-boosting mechanisms, identifying potential partners among local financial institutions, advising on the organizational structure and the suitable host institution and designing the Facility’s implementation process. This will be a truly wonderful new challenge for the Econoler team!