The Environmental Protection Ministry on Tuesday released a roadmap to enable Israel to generate 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, while saving the economy around NIS 6 billion ($1.85 million) by the decade’s end.
The government’s current target is 30%, in relation to 2015, a goal that will require providing 17 gigawatts of renewable energy infrastructure and 3.5 gigawatts of storage.
Renewable sources currently generate only 3.5 gigawatts of power, and have just eight years left before they reach their maximum capacity. The renewable energy storage capacity that approved facilities can store will be limited to 1.5 gigawatts.
This map is based on research done by the ministry that estimated that 42% of electricity could come from renewable energy, mainly solar, by 2030.
The new document identifies the regulatory, legal, and statutory obstacles to reaching 40% and asks the government for changes in the priorities for expanding the electricity network.
Solar plates were placed on the roof of a cowshed, in the Jezreel valley, northern Israel, on February 18, 2017. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
The plan calls for more emphasis to be placed on renewable resources by the government. It calls for reforms that allow renewable energy suppliers to compete directly against fossil fuel suppliers in bids for contracts.
It also states that the government must establish official targets for renewable energy storage.
Electricity generation accounts for 42% of Israel’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the document. This figure is expected to rise as more industries and transportation are electrified.
The document states that the country could install 18 to 23 gigawatts (or more) of solar panels and 5.5 gigawatts (or less) of storage capacity. This would allow it to reach 40% renewables. It would also eliminate the need to build new gas-powered stations, which is not something that has been approved by the government.
You could reach 24 gigawatts by placing solar panels in areas that are already used for another purpose, such roofs or facades of buildings, parking lots, roads and water bodies.
Solar panels floating on a reservoir at the Golan Heights near Kibbutz Sharimir in northern Israel. (Courtesy: Golan Solar)
Installing solar panels could generate an additional 2 gigawatts Over fields of shadetolerant cropsThis is a promising new product that is currently being tested.
This strategy would save up to NIS 5.71 billion ($1.76 billion) by 2030 in capital investments, maintenance, fuels, and external costs — indirect costs to the environment and public health from using fossil fuels such as gas, the document calculates.
The energy ministry and the environmental protection ministry have been at odds for years over how to best ensure energy security for the country and cut global warming emissions.
A key point of contention is how best to provide energy when the sun isn’t shining — by storing and releasing renewable energy, or by using gas-fired power stations.
The more conservative Energy Ministry responded that it sets the policy for the production of electricity from renewable energies “in accordance with a set of considerations, including energy security, emissions reductions, maintenance of electricity prices, and more.”
It said it welcomes “the adoption of diverse positions,” and policy decisions would be made by the energy minister, currently Karine Elharrar, the Electricity Authority head and others.
When asked if the Energy Ministry would submit better targets (known as Nationally Determined contributions or NDCs) at the UN COP 27 conference, Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt later this year, a spokeswoman stated that the ministry was conducting a thorough professional review together with the Electricity Authority.
