Hashim Shawa, Chairman and General Manager of BOP, and Aqqab Daraghmah, Chairman of Toubas Electricity Company, signed an agreement for providing financial services for buying electricity generating units from solar energy for BOP's customers. The company will buy the electricity being generated by the citizens at favorable prices.
This agreement comes as part of the strategy prepared by the Palestinian Energy Authority, set to encourage citizens to acquire renewable energy sources in order to reduce the use of electricity by 10% by 2020. The first phase of this project aims at the creation of small projects (in 1000 households), with a capacity of 5kW per project, a total of 5mW within three years.
BOP has been playing a leading role in promoting renewable energy projects, stated Shawa. In 2011, BOP was the first Palestinian banking institution to offer loans for environment-friendly projects such as building artesian wells, wastewater treatment, and solar energy stations, in cooperation with various specialized electricity companies. Daraghmah stated that although renewable energy projects in Palestine are not very common, there has been a notable increase recently as a result of increasing knowledge and awareness. Daraghmah further noted that this agreement with BOP will contribute to promoting the culture of green energy projects given its long-term goals.