The objective of the pilot is to develop, finance, and apply integrated solutions for climate-secure clean energy in marginalized communities to kickstart socio-economic recovery and mitigate social instability at the local level in Palestine.

The project conducted a technical survey in 129 communities in the West Bank and identified 20 of the most vulnerable communities based on key technical and gender-sensitive vulnerability criteria focused on electricity access. The project has contracted ESCOM Energy to develop detailed grid and capacity assessments of potential target communities (a group of villages in the Qalqilya, Sebastia village in Nablus, Arraba town in Jenin, Tulkarem).

De-risking grants have been allocated for enhancing the capacity of the electricity grid to absorb excess electricity to be produced by solar utilities, rehabilitating transmission lines to reduce electricity loss, installing electrical transformers, enhancing connection points between the solar utility and the grid, and preparing an electricity distribution master plan3.

The project developed a business model for scaling up solar energy for marginalized Local Government Units (LGUs). The business model study includes a focus on financing solar PV stations and impacts on public finance, including incentive schemes that can draw in private finance. The business model developed a discounted price option for Qabalan and a build-operate-transfer arrangement for Arrabeh and outlined the solar station development process to follow.

The project signed contracts with private solar developers to install two centralized solar PV plants in Arrabah and Qabalan. The plants will cover 25% of the total needs of the population in the areas. The 1-megawatt solar PV plant in Arrabah is expected to benefit approximately 12,356 persons (49.3% female, 50.7% male), while the 1.65-megawatt plant in Qabalan will benefit approximately 8,771 (48.6% female, 51.4% male).4 These plants are expected to generate a total saving of $80,000 over the lifetime of the stations, approximately 25 years.

The implementation of this pilot has been completed, and it has catalyzed $2.35 million from the private sector.