ISRAEL'S RENEWABLE TARGET $24 BLN

ENERDATA - 27 Oct 2020 - The Israeli government has approved an plan to increase the share of renewable energy sources in power generation to 30% by 2030, with the remaining 70% covered by gas, tapping large domestic resources in the Mediterranean Sea. The country aims to generate 20% of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. The targets for 2030 will be evaluated and updated in 2024. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, nearly half of power generation can be covered by renewables (especially solar) in developed areas, and the 30% target is too low and promotes gas-fired power generation.

This target follows an ILS80bn (US$24bn) plan unveiled in June 2020 and aimed at increasing the share of solar in the power generation to 30% by 2030, when solar power should cover more than 80% of the country's electricity needs at peak hours. Most of the funding will go to solar plants, which will be built by private operators. In addition, the government will finance the upgrade of the national grid and investments in energy storage. Israel aims at reaching 16 GW of solar capacity by 2030. In parallel, coal-fired generation will be completely phased out.

As of 2019, Israel's coal-fired power capacity stood at 4.8 GW and solar capacity at 1.4 GW, accounting respectively for 25% and 7.5% of the total capacity.

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