Kibbutz Ketura, founded by American Jewish pioneers some 35 years ago, created the Arava Power Company (APC) together with Ed Hofland and Yosef Abramowitz with backers from the USA.  Abramowitz, a recent immigrant from Boston, is the company's president.  The entrepreneurs' dream was to pioneer the use of solar energy in the desert.

APC has just announced an agreement to set up solar fields in the Arava and Negev deserts that will generate at least 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity and eventually one gigawatt (GW) or more.  This would be a huge step toward abandoning coal fueled electricity in favour of renewable energy.  The company has passed two of the three hurdles toward making the plan a reality by acquiring land and investors. 

The remaining hurdle is getting the Public Utilities Authority (PUA) to approve a feed-in tariff of at least 1.80 NIS per kilowatt hour for plants in their size range (up to 500 MW).  Once this is approved, the company believes it can have the solar field up and running in six months. 

The land that will be used is portions of agricultural land belonging to 15 kibbutzes that include Ketura and Yotvata, with another few expected to sign on by the end of the year. An additional 15 have expressed interest and may ultimately join the project at some point.  The land needed for the intended 500 MW field is 800 - 1000 dunams of land.  APC and others have lobbied for changes in land regulations that would enable the use of desert lands for things other than solely agriculture, military firing ranges, and nature reserves.

The investors are international sources who are waiting only for the feed-in tariff to pass.  Approximately $30 million is needed per every 5 MW, i.e. $3 billion for the 500 MW field.  According to Abramowitz, Europe is aiming to produce 20% of its energy through renewable sources and, with climate in the southern desert, Israel should be at 40%.  National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has set a national goal of 20% renewable energy by the end of 2020.  A 1 GW plant (twice the size of the immediate plan and its eventual objective) would fulfill about half of that target on the spot.

However, due to the energy crisis creating consumption that cannot wait for completion of a solar plant, coal burning production must not be abandoned.  The Electric Company says reserves are down to +2 and expected to reach -2 by next year due to increased demand.  Thus the plans for a new coal-powered plant in Ashkelon are not necessarily rendered redundant quite yet by the plans for the solar energy field in the Arava. 

For more in-depth information and some controversial talkbacks, see: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225715331500&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull