Israeli Government’s 16 Gigawatt Solar Plan A New Policy Priority

Looking over an active few weeks for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is reassuring to find something positive regarding clean energy. Israel’s government has shared plans for a decade-long renewable energy shift.

Early in June, the Energy Ministry released the plan, the Roadmap, for some serious solar action. It’s a mighty 80 billion Israeli shekel ($23 billion) investment from government and private funding.

Energy Minister Dr Yuval Steinitz is vocal with his intention to make Israel a “world leader” in solar. The roadmap enables a shift for Israel to a 16 gigawatt (GW) solar fleet by 2030. PV Tech reports that the intention is to cover 30% of the country’s power needs all the time, and yes, sometimes more. “On sunny days, the solar power mix share could reach peaks of 80%, the document says.”

Solar steps up again as a frontrunner of Israeli clean energy, supposed to be achieving 90% of the renewable energy generated by 2030.

Perhaps the government has acknowledged from the COVID-19 data that fossil fuels and air pollution spread disease, as well as being overall bad for health. In any case, it is taking the proper path in supporting economic recovery concurrently with climate and public health action.

“Should the 16GW-by-2030 ambition materialize, they would bring an unprecedented boom for Israeli solar. The industry covered a meagre 5% generation share last year and, according to IRENA, held just 1.43GW of installed solar capacity (1.19GW of it PV plants),” PV Tech continues.

“The choice of solar as the centerpiece of the future energy mix mirrors that of Algeria. In late May, the Maghreb state said it would invest some US$3.2-3.6 billion to install 4GW of solar from 2024 and 2026. The plan lies, official said, ‘at the heart’ of Algeria’s broader economic ambitions.”