Talks on West Bank's first power plant in advance stages: Palestinian official

A senior Palestinian official unveiled on Thursday that talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PNA) on setting up the first power plant in West Bank had reached advance stages.

Mohamed Mustafa, chairman of the Palestinian Investment Fund, told Xinhua that Israel has informed the PNA its initial approval of building up the first ever power station in the West Bank.

However, "besides the approval, there are so many issues that have to be coordinated and discussed between the two sides because the Palestinian power network has been linked with the Israeli one."

He stressed that building up the first ever power station in the West Bank with a cost of 500 million U.S. dollars is "so important because this will save 750 million U.S. dollars the PNA pays to Israel every year."

The plant would boost the Palestinians' weak economy, according to Mustafa, adding that it would "decrease depending on the Israeli network and would save 50 percent of the West Bank consumption of power."

"Building up a power plant in the West Bank has political implications and will be purely funded by Palestinian investors," Mustafa said, adding that it would also create large numbers of jobs opportunities.

Mustafa also unveiled that the power plant is planned to be operated by natural gas, as "there are some contributors who expressed readiness to ship natural gas from Gaza gas field."

Around 27 international companies have applied for building up the first ever power station in the West Bank besides world consultants, according to Mustafa, adding that "seven companies were chosen to present their plans." Endit