The Israeli energy company Enlight Renewable Energy has announced the start of commissioning of the first wind turbines at the 207 MW Genesis wind project, located in the Golan Heights in northern Israel. The wind project, which is currently Israel’s largest single renewable energy project, required an investment of US$350m.
The project, which will feature 39 wind turbines supplied by General Electric, will provide clean electricity for about 70,000 Israeli households and will allow a reduction of emissions of about 180 ktCO2/year. The project has been connected to Israel’s national power grid and has started to undergo running-in tests and Enlight expects it will achieve full commercial operation by the end of the third quarter of 2023.
As of end-2021, Israel only had 27 MW of installed wind capacity (out of a total of nearly 20 GW), which generated only about 218 GWh. Around 500 MW of wind projects are currently planned or under construction in the country.