Financing completed on second Ashalim solar-thermal plant
The two solar-thermal power stations, together with a future photovoltaic plant at the site, are slated to provide about 2 percent of Israel's total electricity supply.
By SHARON UDASINUpdated: JULY 20, 2015 04:02Solar panels(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
The Finance Ministry has signed off on a funding agreement that will enable the construction of an additional NIS 4 billion, 121-megawatt solar-thermal power plant at the western Negev Desert Ashalim site, the office announced Sunday.The agreement, approved by the ministry’s Accountant-General’s Office, allows for the partnership Negev Energy Ltd. to conduct the building, operating and transfer (BOT) associated with the future power plant’s establishment. Once complete, the solar-thermal plant will join a similar 121-megawatt facility already under construction at Ashalim, owned by Megalim Solar Power Ltd., a joint venture between Bright - Source Energy, Alstom and the Noy Fund.“This agreement is a milestone for renewable energy projects in the country,” said senior deputy accountant general, and interministerial tender committee chairman, Yariv Nehama. “The project is unusual in its scope and technological innovation, which combines capacity with energy storage.”All in all, the Ashalim site is expected to be the biggest of its kind in the world and will also include not only large- scale production, but also the possibility of electricity storage, the Finance Ministry said. The Megalim project is expected to be complete by 2017, according to Bright - source, while the Negev Energy project should be operating by the first half of 2018, the Finance Ministry said.The two solar-thermal power stations, together with a future photovoltaic plant at the site, are slated to provide about 2 percent of Israel’s total electricity supply, the ministry added. Ministry officials meanwhile expressed hopes that the three stations at Ashalim will enable the country to meet government targets of generating 10% of Israel’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.A committee is in the process of publishing the tender for the PV plant addition, the ministry said. “This is a large-scale project whose financing combines groups and banks from Israel and abroad,” said Finance Ministry accountant general Michal Abadi-Boiangiu. “This plant will be a major milestone toward meeting the government’s targets for energy production from renewable sources. I praise the tender committee on its important and professional work.”
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