Energy Ministry seeks to scrap building of some new gas-fired power stations

The Energy Ministry asks the National Planning Council to slash its plans for new gas-fired power stations by more than half.

The stations the ministry is asking to strike from the planners’ list are Mevo’ot Gilboa (Gilboa Foothills) south of the northern city of Afula, Sagi 2000, west of Afula, Zvaim near Beit She’an in the northern Jordan Valley, and Hartuv in the Beit Shemesh area, northwest of Jerusalem.

The combined capacity of those four stations is 4,860 MW.

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz says these can be taken off the agenda because Israel is now in a position to increase its targets for renewable energy, mainly with solar power.

With updated plans to add more than 12,000 MW of capacity from renewables to the energy system — plus 2,200 MW of storage — by 2030, the planners need to ensure that 4,000 MW can potentially be made available, with the aim that only 1,400 MW will actually need to be used.

In June, Steinitz increased targets for the percentage of electricity from renewable sources from 17 percent to 30% by the end of the decade, with the remaining 70% to come from natural gas.

— Sue Surkes