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Israel set a goal in October of installing 340 megawatts of solar power. Developers are still waiting for the government to provide the details they need to move forward.

“Development has been a hard grind,” said Jon Cohen, chief executive officer of Arava Power Co. “Everything has gone slow and hard.”

Arava, based in Kibbutz Ketura, Israel, is developing 12 solar projects in the country with 200 megawatts of capacity, and can’t begin construction without more information from the government, Cohen said.

“We have been waiting since the beginning of 2013 for the regulations for the government’s current approved quotas.”

The regulations may be finalized this year, said Yuval Zohar, head of renewable energy at Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources.

“We’ve gone through public elections, a new minister came in and we assume that due to the importance and complexity of that issue, the regulation for these additional quotas will be finalized in the short run, hopefully within the framework of 2015,” he said. The government “is already in the process of preparation for” an energy auction for 30 megawatts of solar capacity.

Israel has set a target of getting 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Last year it got about 2 percent.

Israel’s solar industry attracts $200 million to $300 million in annual investment, according to Eco Energy Financial & Strategic Consulting, a Herzliya Pituach, Israel-based energy research company. Most of that comes from local banks and domestic investment funds.

Cheap Gas

The slow progress on solar policies is due in part to large natural gas fields discovered offshore in recent years, that now account for about 60 percent of the country’s power, said Amit Mor, CEO of Eco Energy.

“This is the biggest challenge to the renewables sector,” Mor said in an interview. “Relatively cheap natural gas is an obstacle to the willingness of the government to further promote the penetration of solar energy and other renewables.”

The Tamar gas field was discovered offshore Israel in 2009 and the Leviathan field a year later. Combined they hold an estimated 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, more than the country could consume in decades.

Arava completed the 40-megawatt Ketura project last week, Israel’s largest grid-connected solar farm. The $79 million power plant is jointly owned with France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles SA.

“We are hoping for regulations by the end of 2015 and to be building additional solar fields by 2016,” said Cohen. “For Israel to meet its 2020 target, the industry needs to add an additional 500 megawatts to 700 megawatts of capacity.”

©2015 Bloomberg News

Lead image: Waiting. Credit: Shutterstock.

Israel set a goal in October of installing 340 megawatts of solar power. Developers are still waiting for the government to provide the details they need to move forward.

“Development has been a hard grind,” said Jon Cohen, chief executive officer of Arava Power Co. “Everything has gone slow and hard.”

Arava, based in Kibbutz Ketura, Israel, is developing 12 solar projects in the country with 200 megawatts of capacity, and can’t begin construction without more information from the government, Cohen said.

“We have been waiting since the beginning of 2013 for the regulations for the government’s current approved quotas.”

The regulations may be finalized this year, said Yuval Zohar, head of renewable energy at Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources.

“We’ve gone through public elections, a new minister came in and we assume that due to the importance and complexity of that issue, the regulation for these additional quotas will be finalized in the short run, hopefully within the framework of 2015,” he said. The government “is already in the process of preparation for” an energy auction for 30 megawatts of solar capacity.

Israel has set a target of getting 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Last year it got about 2 percent.

Israel’s solar industry attracts $200 million to $300 million in annual investment, according to Eco Energy Financial & Strategic Consulting, a Herzliya Pituach, Israel-based energy research company. Most of that comes from local banks and domestic investment funds.

Cheap Gas

The slow progress on solar policies is due in part to large natural gas fields discovered offshore in recent years, that now account for about 60 percent of the country’s power, said Amit Mor, CEO of Eco Energy.

“This is the biggest challenge to the renewables sector,” Mor said in an interview. “Relatively cheap natural gas is an obstacle to the willingness of the government to further promote the penetration of solar energy and other renewables.”

The Tamar gas field was discovered offshore Israel in 2009 and the Leviathan field a year later. Combined they hold an estimated 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, more than the country could consume in decades.

Arava completed the 40-megawatt Ketura project last week, Israel’s largest grid-connected solar farm. The $79 million power plant is jointly owned with France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles SA.

“We are hoping for regulations by the end of 2015 and to be building additional solar fields by 2016,” said Cohen. “For Israel to meet its 2020 target, the industry needs to add an additional 500 megawatts to 700 megawatts of capacity.”

©2015 Bloomberg News

Lead image: Waiting. Credit: Shutterstock.

Covering an area about the size of Montana, but with a population of more than 127 million, land commands a high premium in Japan. That said, utility solar power project developers continue to see opportunity in the Land of the Rising Sun despite high …

Covering an area about the size of Montana, but with a population of more than 127 million, land commands a high premium in Japan. That said, utility solar power project developers continue to see opportunity in the Land of the Rising Sun despite high …

According to Doc Brown, Marty McFly’s DeLorean needed 1.21 gigawatts to travel back in time. To put this in perspective, new gas power plants are about 0.5 gigawatts, typical large utility scale solar power plants are 0.1 gigawatts, and the average rooftop solar system is 0.000005 gigawatts (5,000 watts). Although it takes a lot of solar panels to generate the power our society needs, solar is now one of the cheapest and cleanest sources. And “clean and cheap” is now the world’s preferred power source: in 2013 the world added 143 gigawatts of new renewable energy generating capacity compared to 141 in new plants that burn coal, natural gas, or oil.

Fossil-fueled power plants have not just taken a temporary back seat to renewables – we are witnessing a long term transition in the world’s energy sources. The price of wind and solar power is on par or less than fossil fuel electricity. Renewable energy prices are on a steady pace to get cheaper, while gas and oil will inevitably go up as supplies are constrained and climate change effects are considered. Coal plants are being decommissioned, and new nuclear plants are effectively doomed — it took 36 years from  start to finish for the last nuclear plant to come on line. Compare that to 45 days for a new solar power plant on your home’s roof, or three years for a utility-scale solar project.

Utilities are installing solar power plants to generate electricity for their customers because solar is cheaper.

 But this change in our energy sources will take many years, just as the complete transition from “horse and buggy” transportation to gas-powered cars took 50 years. As with other large-scale technological changes, customer economics will force the current incumbent energy providers to change (unlikely), or go out of business (more likely). It’s a virtuous cycle as more customers are satisfied with renewable power generation, and more people are employed in these industries. For more on this inexorable, economics-driven transition to a clean energy economy — and what we need to do to accelerate the transition — please Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show on Renewable Energy World.