EDF has commissioned a 40 MW solar power project in Ashalim, a small community located in southern Israel’s Negev Desert. The facility is the fourth PV project built by the French company in the area, with the other projects completed in 2018.
The newly commissioned solar farm will provide energy to the grid at a rate of (US$0.0223)/kWh, the cheapest cost paid for energy and solar power in the country so far. Currently, 312 MW of operating solar capacity is being hosted by the Ashalim community. In May 2023, The Israel Land Authority introduced a tender for the renting of 28,000 acres (11,331 ha) of land in the Negev Desert for the construction of large-scale solar power plants.
The country has already installed about 5 GW of PV to improve its production capacity, and the goal is to generate 20% of its output through renewables by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Israel is mainly dependent on solar energy to achieve these targets, as evident by the proposed large-scale solar power plant deployment in the Negev desert.
