Jordan, Israel, UAE sign MoU to swap solar power for water

Jordan, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed Tuesday a memorandum of understanding to implement a project entailing water in exchange for solar energy.

The MoU was signed by Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Mohammad Al Najjar, UAE Climate Change and Environment Minister Mariam Al Mheiri and Israel’s outgoing Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej on the sidelines of the UN climate change summit in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The deal aims to continue feasibility studies for a UAE-brokered deal signed a year ago to have Jordan provide solar energy to Israel, and Tel Aviv channels desalinated water to Amman.

The MoU pledges to continue “engaging to develop the necessary implements in plans in time for COP28,” which will be held in the UAE next November.

The agreement will see Israel purchase solar power from the Jordan-based facility, which will be constructed by an Emirati firm, and Jordan purchase water from an Israeli site to be constructed along the Mediterranean coast.

In November 2021, Jordan signed a declaration of intent for water-for-energy with Israel and the UAE. The agreement, however, was met with public anger in Jordan amid calls for protests against the deal.

Jordan is the second most water-scarce country in the world.

In October 2021, the country signed an agreement with Israel to buy 50 million cubic meters of water from Tel Aviv – an additional amount to what was stipulated in the peace agreement signed between the two countries in 1994.