Ireland funds construction of solar installation for water treatment in Gaza

• Ireland, in collaboration with France, intends to invest 8.8m euros in the development of a 7.5-megawatt photovoltaic installation in Gaza for treatment of polluted water.

The electricity generated by the PV plant will be supplied to NGEST sewage water treatment facility. The venture is targeted at recovering the water-bearing layer with pure water as well as irrigating about 15 sq km of agricultural land. 

The majority of PV panels will be located in the buffer area zone, which was previously closed by the government of Israel. Allowing access to this territory is a huge step forward in the fight against humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Due to electricity deficit, powering water plants in Gaza is a challenging task. To date, Emergency Sewage Treatment station of North Gaza uses costly fossil fuel to power generators. The new solar project is meant to replace diesel generation with green power. As soon as the new facility becomes operational, it is expected to totally supply the NGEST’s electricity demand. Extra power will be delivered to other water treatment plants in the center and north of Gaza.

Gaza-based solar development ambitions were announced four years ago. At that time, it was about a pipeline of 30 megawatts of power.

About 97 percent of water in Gaza is not suitable for drinking. Over 25 percent of all the registered disease cases are result of polluted water consumption. Local inhabitants have to spend about 30 percent of their earnings on potable water. Otherwise, untreated water causes extremely high death rate.