VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #0134 0211601
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211601Z JAN 10
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7357
INFO RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 5135
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 8768
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0001
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/IPA, EEB, AND S/P; COMMERCE FOR WEIGLER; NSC 
FOR KUMAR, TDA FOR KRESS AND HUBBARD; OPIC FOR DRUMHELLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID EINV ENRG KWBG KPAL
SUBJECT: TDA GRANT SUPPORTS RENEWABLE ENERGY, PALESTINIAN 
ENTREPRENEUR 
 
REF: 09 JERUSALEM 2072 
 
¶1.  Summary.  At a January 20 signing ceremony attended by 
press and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, the U.S. 
Trade Development Agency (TDA) awarded a nearly $440,000 
grant to support the development of a high efficiency, 
alternative energy heating and cooling system for an 
affordable housing development outside Ramallah (reftel). 
The grantee company, MENA Geothermal, is headed by a young 
Palestinian-Canadian entrepreneur who developed the first use 
of commercial geothermal energy in the Middle East and North 
Africa region, in a Ramallah office building.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  The $438,682 grant, signed by the Consul General on 
behalf of TDA, will support a feasibility study for a 
district geothermal heating and cooling system at a planned 
522-unit affordable housing complex outside Ramallah.  MENA 
Geothermal has developed several other projects that use the 
technology on a smaller scale, including its Ramallah office 
building, a high-end housing development on the outskirts of 
Ramallah, and, soon, an Israeli NGO building in West 
Jerusalem.  Note:  Geothermal systems pump water for heating 
and cooling systems through an underground loop to keep the 
water at a constant temperature, which means it is cooled 
less in summer and heated less in winter.  End Note.  The 
technology is estimated to decrease energy consumption and 
costs by up to 70%, an increasingly important point for 
affordable housing in the West Bank, which suffers from 
comparatively high energy costs. 
 
¶3.  In his remarks at the event which was covered by a wide 
range of local press, Khaled Sabawi, president of MENA 
Geothermal, appealed to the PA and its Minister of Planning, 
Ali Jirbawi, for assistance with infrastructure needs at new 
housing developments.  He stressed that it would be difficult 
to maintain affordable prices at new developments without PA 
funding of access roads, water, electricity, and water 
treatment. 
 
RUBINSTEIN