Israel takes more steps to encourage solar energy production

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel’s Electricity Authority approved the updating of energy production and storage tariffs in order to encourage the construction of solar production facilities with a capacity of 100-630 kilowatts. 

The Authority said it will increase the existing rate scales so that the revenues from solar energy facilities will increase by up to 33 per cent depending on size. 

A 630 kilowatt facility that will be built will receive about USD 0.09 for each kWh of electricity it produces compared to about USD 0.07 in the previous rate. The updating of the scales, said the Authority, will “significantly improve the rates for these facilities and stimulate the construction of the required large facilities In order to meet the government’s goals for renewable energies and to continue strengthening the electricity sector as reliable, efficient and clean.” 

In addition, the Authority is upgrading its decision from last April, which aims to incentivize and encourage the establishment of low-voltage storage facilities, while allowing charging from the grid of the storage facility, subject to the distributor’s answer, through a fixed rate mechanism for the entire operating period, which will create certainty for entrepreneurs. 

In 2021, the tariff regulation for dual-use renewable energy production facilities (solar) was updated for the last time, and now the Authority has re-examined the average tariffs, the marginal tariffs and the connection data for this regulation. 

The analysis of the data shows that most of the connection requests are for facilities up to 200 kilowatts, even though it is possible to build facilities with a capacity of up to 630 kilowatts, and it seems that the current marginal tariff does not sufficiently incentivize the construction of facilities larger than 200 kilowatts.