Arava Power Company (APC) signed agreements last week with two Beduin clans to
build solar fields on their land, the first such deal ever signed, the company
announced Monday.
The Tarabin and Abu Karinat families agreed to lease
land to APC to build 20 MW worth of solar fields on 370 dunams at a cost of NIS
400 million.
This is the first time any company has signed a land deal
with the Beduin to build solar fields. Moreover, the Overseas Private
Investment
Corporation of the US (OPIC) has agreed to provide a loan for 80 percent
of the
cost, or some NIS 300m.
APC was the first solar company to sign land
deals with kibbutzim and moshavim in the Negev and the Arava to allocate
land
for solar fields.
Finding available land has been of major concern to the
solar industry. The government has emphasized rooftops as a natural
first
source, but has also been rezoning land for solar fields.
Though
seemingly wide open, the Negev and the Arava are largely taken up by IDF
firing
ranges, nature reserves and sensitive open spaces. However, APC has
continually
contended that just the kibbutzim and moshavim land could represent
enough for
one gigawatt (GW). Now, the company says it has found a potential source
for
another GW.
“We are proud of the contract with Arava Power – a reliable
company that respects our connection and rights to the land and whose
connection
to the Beduin community represents a brave step,” Haj Musa Tarabin said
in a
statement.
“I very much hope the initiative will come to fruition as soon
as possible so that finally we can see some vibrant business activity in
our
area, which for many years was empty and dormant,” Musa Abu Karinat
added. “In
addition, we will contribute to protecting the environment and
developing the
Negev for the benefit of all of its residents.”
Minorities Minister
Avishai Braverman praised the deal and said his ministry would help
advance the
initiative, which would supply new sources of income to the Beduin
community in
the Negev.
MK Taleb a-Sanaa (United Arab List-Ta’al) also praised the new
initiative.
“We are pleased that a company like Arava Power, and its
business partner the German company Siemens, are investing and creating
jobs for
the Beduin community, which has been neglected for many years.
We hope
that the cooperation will afford new economic opportunities for the
Beduin, who
have the lowest economic status in Israel,” he said.
APC CEO John Cohen
characterized the decision as another in a line of pioneering steps the
company
has taken.
“APC was the pioneer that signed agreements to build solar
fields on moshavim and kibbutzim, and we are proud to be the first
company to
initiate solar fields in the Negev in general, and specifically in
conjunction
with the Negev’s Beduin community. From our perspective, it is both a
financial
and a social investment which will advance the Beduin community and the
Negev.
These agreements are only the beginning of longterm cooperation with the
Tarabin
and Abu-Karinat families and the Beduin community,” he said.
“The land
where the solar fields will be erected benefits from sun all year round,
which
makes it an optimal site, from a global perspective, for producing solar
energy,” he added.
The government has declared a goal of reaching 5% of
electricity from renewable resources by 2014 and another 5% by 2020.
The
company declined to elaborate on the specific legal mechanisms that
enabled the
agreements. APC was founded in 2006, and in 2009, Siemens acquired a 40%
stake
in the company.