Egypt signs deal to supply fuel to Gaza power plant

The Hamas-run authority of energy and natural resources in the Gaza Stripe signed an agreement with Egypt to pump fuels through Rafah border crossing to Gaza power station, Palestinian officials said Monday.

The energy authority said in a press statement emailed to reporters that the agreement was signed in Egypt’s capital Cairo between Palestinian representatives of the energy authority and representatives from Egyptian Petroleum Corporation.

“The Egyptian side agreed to supply the Gaza Strip with regular fuels to Gaza power station and for cars and vehicles until industrial diesel is imported to Gaza through Egypt,” said the statement.

The energy authority will send on Tuesday the needed equipment for transporting the fuel, the statement said.

The Gaza Strip has been going through a severe crisis of power supplies and longer periods of blackouts which rose to 16 hours per day. The blackout was due to severe shortage of fuels which used to be smuggled in Gaza through tunnels.

Ahmed Abu al-Amrin, spokesman of the energy authority in Gaza, told Xinhua that according to the agreement, Egypt will pump 450, 000 litters of diesel every day, which is expected to resolve 70 percent of the problem.

“We hope that the Egyptian side will implement the agreement as soon as possible,” al-Amrin said, adding that later on the Gaza Strip will be linked to the regional network of electricity. <Xinhua>

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