Israel pre-qualification tender for 300 MW solar PPP project attracts 27 bids

The Ministry of Finance of Israel has attracted a number of bids for the launched pre-qualification tender for the construction of the 300 MW solar photovoltaic plant that covers about 6 sq.km. located near the town of Dimona in the southern Negev desert. 

The inter-ministerial committee consists of the finance, energy, electricity authority, and the government company Inbal have announced that 27 local and international groups have submitted their applications for operation and construction of the project. This is a preliminary stage before the competitive stage on the bid and the highest number of bids submitted to date for the construction of a solar power plant.

The tender documents, which will be published in the coming months, will include a requirement for integrating electricity storage technology in large solar installations. Electricity storage is a prerequisite for progressing to the vision of producing 30% of electricity in the economy in 2030 through renewable energy because it allows the use of electricity produced from the sun even in the evening, where the demand for energy is high. Thus, during solar radiation, the storage system is recharged with excess solar energy and in the evening it "releases" energy to the electricity grid instead of supplementing the missing energy through the production of pollutant fuels.

Once commissioned, the project will be the largest solar power plant in Israel to help achieve government targets for electricity generation from renewable energy currently at 13% in 2025 and 17% by 2030. The construction of the station is expected to begin in 2022 and end in 2024.