An independent U.S. governmental foreign assistance agency signed here Wednesday agreements with three Arab countries to finance feasibility studies on renewable energy projects.

Leocadia Zak, director of U.S. Trade and Development Agency ( USTDA), signed agreements with Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon to finance feasibility studies and offer technical support for operating solar power plants.

The agreement signed between the U.S. Congress-funded agency and Egypt aims to carry out feasibility study to estimate the actual cost of supplying Egyptian power grids with solar energy and offering technical information pertaining to the required tariff of the service.

The agreement signed with Jordan aims to carry out feasibility study on the photovoltaic cells and assessing the equipment, facilities and technological use of power grids.

The agreement with Lebanon tackles conducting feasibility study on the solar plants technology.

USTDA sponsored a three-day forum on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) technology and projects in cooperation with the U.S. commercial Service.

The Middle East and North Africa Technology and Projects Forum (MENA Power 2010) kicked off in Cairo on May 24, aiming at matching MENA policy makers and project stake-holders in the electric power sector with U.S. providers of equipment and service.

More than 30 power projects in such areas as gas-fired combined cycle, solar, wind, hydro, biomass, integrated desalination and transmission were on the agenda of the forum, according to a report published on USTDA website.