The Palestinian Territories in Brief  

[Geography and Demography Context] [Palestinian Economy] [Climatic Context] [Solar Insulation in Palestine] [Consumption and Demand 1995-1998] [Gaza Strip Electricty Consumption Growth] [Consumption and Demand in Gaza Governorates] [maximam Demand in Gaza Strip . MW] [In the Palestinian Territories] [ Energy Statistics in Palestine ]

The Palestinian territories are divided into two entities: the North Governorates and the South Governorates known before as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip respectively.  The Gaza Strip (365 km²) is a narrow strip stretching along the East south edge of the Mediterranean. It lies on longitude 34ْ 26^{`</sup> east and altitude 31ْ 10<sup>`} north equator with width ranging from 5-12 km. According to the 1997 figures, the population of the Gaza Strip reached 1,023,095 inhabitants, which makes it highly populated (2800 inh/km²). On the other hand, the West Bank (5788 km²) which lies on longitude 35ْ 12^{`</sup> east and altitude 31ْ 31<sup>`} north equator is situated on the central Highlands of Palestine.  The population of the West Bank reached 1,660,868 inhabitants, which indicates a relatively low density of 280 inh/km².   The high average population growth in Palestine (6.12 % per annum in the Gaza Strip and 5.61% per annum in the West Bank in mid. 1997) is a considerable factor in electricity demand for Palestine.  

Palestinian Territories were affected from the political unrest during the past 50 years in the area. Economic and social patterns were deprived from noticeable development and remained primitive especially during the Israeli occupation period. The current per capita average income in Palestine is about 1340 USD/year.  

The Palestinian Territories are located in a transitional climatic zone between the Mediterranean and the arid tropical zones. Palestine’s climatic conditions vary widely. The Palestinian Territories could be divided into three climatic zones: coastal areas, hilly areas and Jordan valley. The coastal climate (in the Gaza Strip and the northwestern part of the West Bank) is hot and humid during the summer and mild during the winter. In the hilly areas of the West Bank, cold winter conditions and mild summer weather prevail. The climate in the Jordan valley is hot and dry in summer and warm and humid during the winter.

Daily average temperatures in the coastal areas are 24 °C and 15 °C in summer and winter respectively. In the hilly areas of the West Bank temperatures occasionally drop to 0°C but they are usually less by 1-3°C than in coastal areas, while it is always higher in the Jordan valley. Temperature in the Jordan Valley can rise in summer to 45°C with an annual average of 24°C.  

Solar insulation has an annual average of 5.4 kWh/m².day, which fluctuates significantly during the day and all over the year, and approximately 2860 mean-hour sunshine throughout the year. The measured values in the different areas show that the annual average insulation values are about 5.24 kWh/m².day, 5.63 kWh/m².day, 5.38 kWh/m².day in the coastal area, hilly area and Jordan valley respectively. The following figure shows the annual monthly averages solar radiation amounts in the three climatic zones.

Annual monthly average variation in solar radiation in the three Climate zones of the Palestinian Territories

  The following figures show the trend in consumption, demand since 1995.  The graphs enclosed show the progressive growth in electricity consumption and on electricity demand for the past three years in Gaza.

 Table 1: Consumption and demand in the Gaza Governorates

 Table 2: Consumption and demand in the West Bank

 The gap between supply and demand is growing rapidly as economic activity increases.  There is suppressed demand and a growing backlog of requests for new connections.  The suppressed demand is mainly due to the physical constraints of the existing nine feeders.  The technical teams of the PEA and the municipalities rehabilitated 70% of the network.  These projects were financed by the Norwegian grant with a total cost of 23MUSD.  In the Gaza Governorates, the executed projects in the northern area costed about 5.64 MUSD with an installed capacity of 41.47 MVA and 6.5 MVAR.  The length of the network reached 45km.  On the other hand, the planned projects are estimated at 3.31MUSD, and the capacity to be installed will be 24.42MVA with a total network length of 28.9km.

 In the south area of the Gaza Governorates, the projects executed costed 5.1MUSD with an installed capacity of 32.4MVA, 3.5 MVAR.  The network length reached 56km.  

  E-Mail : pea@palnet.com

Palestinian Energy Authority:

Main Office PEA. :     Gaza -P.O Box 3041/ Tel: 972-7-2821702 , Fax : 972-7-2824849

                                        Al-Bireh-P.O. Box:3591 / Tel: 972-2- 2986190/2 , Fax:972-2-2986191