Israeli renewable energy company Teralight, the Moshavim movement and the Environmental Protection Ministry have launched the country’s largest solar project in the Jezreel Valley.
Known as the “Ta’anakh” project, it is expected to provide electricity for around a quarter-million Israelis living in more than 60,000 households by the end of the first half of next year.
Ta’anakh, launched on Thursday, will operate with 250 megawatts of installed capacity, equal to 5.2% of Israel’s green energy capacity and 1.2% of its overall electricity capacity. Its total financial volume is estimated at NIS 900 million.
New sources of renewable energy
According to Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, the project “will flow clean solar electricity into the high voltage transmission network” and “contribute significantly to increasing production rates from renewable energies, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants in Israel.”
Teralight is a local leader in the initiation and development of solar energy. It has a project backlog of about 1,300 megawatts in Israel.
“The Ta’anakh project advances Israel a significant step towards increasing the use of electricity produced from clean solar energy produced by Blue and White,” said Teralight CEO Rani Lifshitz.
He added that the company is in the process of establishing “solar projects and storage facilities with a significant volume of approximately 1,000 megawatts and 375-megawatt hours respectively, which are expected to be connected to the grid gradually over the next three years and thus we will be the leading player in Israel.”
Currently, only around 10% of Israel’s energy comes from solar, according to previous reports by the Environmental Protection Ministry. However, the ministry has estimated that if solar panels were adequately distributed, solar installations could generate 40% of total electricity generation in Israel by 2030.
According to the independent Solar Israel portal, there are around 20 solar companies in Israel.
