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Monday, 06 October 2008 23:48 |
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While some people joke about ‘the State of Eilat' due to its remoteness from the rest of Israel, in some ways that is almost true. Eilat does not get its water from the same source as most of the country, and now [read more] |
| While some people joke about ‘the State of Eilat' due to its remoteness from the rest of Israel, in some ways that is almost true. Eilat does not get its water from the same source as most of the country, for example, relying instead on artesian wells and desalinated sea water. It now seems that Eilat's electricity might also start coming from a source quite different from the rest of the country in the foreseeable future. From a quite different country, for that matter.
Globes (business magazine) recently reported that the Public Utilities Authority (PUA) gave businessman Asi Shalgi a conditional license for a venture to supply electricity to the hotels in Eilat. Former Israel Electricity Corporation CEO Rafi Peled promotes the venture, and the Eilat Economic Company had been urging the project for a year or more.
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Thus far, nothing unusual. What is unusual is that the power plant will be situated in Aqaba, Jordan! The three year license (with option for one-year extension) is the first ever given by the PUA for a plant situated outside Israel.
The 60-megawatt private power plant, operated on natural gas, will cost 300-400 NIS to construct. Because it will be supplying electricity to Eilat only and to no Jordanian customers, it needed permission from PUA to hook up to the Israeli power grid rather than the Jordanian grid. The plant is intended to supply some 30-40 megawatts to the hotels in Eilat and the rest of its output to other customers.
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