The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has announced that the country’s National Council had approved a detailed master plan for the construction of Israel’s first large-scale energy storage facility. The plan comprises four 200 MW / 800 MWh storage facilities, with a combined capacity of 800 MW/3.2 GWh. They will be built in stages according to the needs of the system, as well as with different storage technologies.
The facility will enable the absorption and storage of electricity produced by renewable energies in the Jezreel Valley, the Spring Valley and in northern Israel in general. The project will also allow the transmission of electricity to areas with an important demand during high consumption hours.
In April 2023, the Electricity Authority of Israel (PUA) announced a reform to encourage the production of more renewable energy, with the goal to encourage investors and companies to invest in storing the renewable energy they produce and inject it into the grid in the evening and at night when space is available.
In 2022, the Ministry of Environment released a new renewable energy roadmap, targeting 40% of renewables in the country's power mix by 2030 (end of 2021, renewable energy sources accounted for 13%). To reach the new objective, Israel would have to instal between 18 GW and 23 GW of solar projects along with 5.5 GW/33 GWh of storage capacity.
Simultaneously to this announcement, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has unveiled a sustainable energy transition plan in south-western Israel, only 7 km from the border with Gaza. With an investment of about US$1.4m, the plan is meant to promote projects of energy efficiency, energy management, storage, and transportation, and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy in household and business sectors in the region.