Renewable energy to power Birzeit University’s campus and facilities

Stemming from its vision to produce clean, renewable energy, Birzeit University unveils solar-power system
2 May 2018

On Monday, April 30, 2018, Birzeit University inaugurated a solar-power project that will power its campus and facilities. The 259 kilowatts solar-power system was installed on top of the Omar Aggad Engineering Building, with President of Birzeit University Dr. Abdullatif Abuhijleh attending the inauguration, along with Chairman and Executive Officer of the Arab Palestinian Investment Company Tarek Omar Aggad and a number of staff and officials from Birzeit University and the National Aluminum & Profile Company, a subsidiary of APIC that installed the solar system. 

Abuhijleh, speaking at the inauguration, noted that the project will help save power and reduce the energy consumption at Birzeit University, adding that such a project is in line with the university’s future vision for using and producing clean, renewable energy.   

Additionally, Abuhijleh highlighted the Aggad family’s contributions over the years in support of Birzeit University and education in Palestine. 

“The late Sheikh Omar Aggad, who passed away early this year, was one of the first supporters of Birzeit University He financed the establishment of the Omar Aggad Faculty of Engineering in 1984, which measures 12,500 square meters in size, and comprises the Engineering Faculty departments, workshops, and labs, in addition to a number of colleges, at a cost of more than $6 million dollars,” said Abuhijleh. 

The president of Birzeit University also added that, in honor of the Aggad family’s contributions over the years, the university will award five APIC scholarships for academic excellence, according to the university’s standards and criteria, for the following ten years.” 

Aggad said that APIC’s support to establish a solar power system “parallels global trends in sustainable energy production and use, in addition to providing alternatives to decrease energy-consumption costs through natural resources.” 

He also remarked that APIC has already begun applying a comprehensive plan to install solar-power systems that will sustain the group’s power needs in the future. 

APIC is an investment holding company that has around 1650 employees spread across its nine subsidiaries. It is one of the founding contributors of the Palestine Power Generating Company, and a shareholder in the Bank of Palestine and the Palestine Electric Company (PEC).