Government initiates 1,600-megawatt rooftops solar project
Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz today published a new policy that will add a 1,600-megawatt quota to the Israeli electricity sector. The Public Utilities Authority (electricity) has prepared a plan for implementing the new policy. As reported exclusively in ‘Globes,’ the new quotas will be allocated to solar energy facilities, mostly on rooftops, but also on the ground.
Israel is lagging substantially behind the targets its set in renewable energy. Only 3% of all electricity in Israel is produced from renewable energy sources, compared with a 10% target for 2020. 1,000 megawatts of the 3,600-megawatt total has already been built (the vast majority of which consists of solar energy facilities), and projects under construction amount to another 700 megawatts.
The project, which consists of privatization of electricity production, enables home consumers, local authorities, and businesses to produce solar electricity. The project is designed to produce 1,600 megawatts.
Approval of solar energy quotas has occurred in very small amounts of a few dozen megawatts to date. This time, the state is planning to add an enormous amount within a relatively short three-year period. According to the Public Utilities Authority (electricity), most of the new quota will be for solar facilities on rooftops of households and businesses. Solar panels require a great deal of space, and Israel is a relatively crowded country. Rooftop facilities therefore have great potential, which has hitherto not been utilized. Solar facilities have been installed on only 6,000 of Israel’s two million rooftops. There were many reasons for this: bureaucratic problems pertaining to the installation, taxation, a high price, financing problems with the banks for building facilities, and lack of awareness among the public. Read more…