Agreement covers oil and gas, alternate fuels, smart power grids, water desalination, cyber protection of infrastructure
Jerusalem – The US Department of Energy and the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure have signed an agreement Monday that will further enhance cooperation between the two countries.
“Today, our nations further solidified our ongoing cooperation,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
The agreement expands cooperative efforts between the parties for exploration, production, and distribution technologies for fossil and alternative fuels; research and development for natural gas, transmission, distribution, and smart grid technologies; water desalination and treatment facilities; and physical and cyber protection of energy and water infrastructure.
“I am certain that cooperation in the energy sector will expand in the years to come,” Steinitz said. “I thank Secretary Moniz for the friendship and cooperation. The United States is Israel’s greatest friend, and we appreciate this friendship.”
The agreement also recognizes the importance of developing advanced energy and water technologies to secure water and power supplies while protecting the environment and increasing energy efficiency within the two countries.
“The U.S. and Israel will continue to foster research and development, drive down the costs of clean energy technologies and encourage collaboration between our nations’ top energy scientists,” said Moniz.
The agreement follows legislation and support from the energy ministries of both countries to continue funding programs implemented by the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation and Israel-US Binational Science Foundation (BSF) through 2024.
The agreement additionally encourages collaboration between Israeli energy researchers at U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories.
Following the signing of the new U.S. – Israel agreement on energy cooperation, Moniz and Steinitz continued discussions from their Sept. 2015 visit on various topics including natural gas, cyber protection of energy infrastructure facilities, promoting cooperation, and programs for research and development of clean energy, power plant energy, and water treatment.