Egypt is working on a plan with the Palestinians to supply all the besieged Gaza Strip's electricity needs and wean off its reliance on Israel for power, an Egyptian energy official said Thursday. Under the plan, Egypt - which already supplies a small part of Gaza's electricity - would increase the number of power lines linking it to Gaza and provide Palestinians with some 250 megawatts, said Izzat Ibrahim, a senior official of Sinai's National Electricity Power Co. "This capacity is considered as an alternative power for that Israel used to supply," Ibrahim said.
He said Egypt's Electricity Ministry was preparing a study with the Palestinian Authority on financing the project and providing equipment to Gaza. The project would take at least six months to implement, he said, though he could not say when it would start. An official at the ministry confirmed that Egypt was exploring means of providing all of Gaza's electricity needs. The official would not give a time-frame for the project. |