EU Working To Help Israel, Palestinians Link Power Grids

     AP     2003/07/23

Israel and the Palestinian Authority committed themselves Wednesday to finalize agreements to link their power grids and define energy projects of common interest by the end of the year. "This is an important step for peace between Israel and Palestine," said EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio who helped broker the deal.

The agreement establishes working groups which will aim to finalize commercial contracts and interconnection policies by the end of October.

Experts also will draw up a list of energy projects which are of interest to both parties. These will be presented during an industrial conference to be held in Brussels in November and include neighboring countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Israeli infrastructure minister Yossef Paritzky said it would take between two to three years to develop natural gas resources which lie offshore. He suggested the idea of a joint power station to supply electricity to both Israel and Palestine.

"We will do everything possible to expedite the process," said Paritzky, adding that "if people share projects together, they will live in peace."

De Palacio said there were several options open for the financing of such projects, including loans from the European investment bank and private financing.