Israeli Powergen to Burn More Gas

Israel's energy minister, Yuval Steinitz has ordered the closure of four coal-fired power generation units and their replacement with two new natural gas-fired combined-cycle power generation units. He announced his decision following a public campaign to shut down the 40-yr old units that are part of Orot Rabin, the biggest power generation plant in Israel, near Hadera, north of Tel Aviv.

As part of his decision, Steinitz cancelled an NIS 8bn ($2bn) scheme to install smoke scrubbers in coal-fired units. The plants will however be maintained as back-up generators for the grid.

Steinitz's decision will take at least five years to implement. Two gas-fired power generation units are still to be designed and built and new sources of natural gas have yet to be developed and come online. Steinitz hopes the decision will hasten the realisation of the Regulatory Natural Gas Framework since it will create a further 1.5-2bn m³/yr demand for natural gas in the domestic market.

Steinitz' announcement is part of the energy ministry's policy to reform the state monopoly, Israel Electric Corp (IEC). When the decision is implemented, up to three quarters of power generation will depend on natural gas, one of the highest rates in the world, and certainly the highest among OECD member states.

At the beginning of 2016 Steinitz ordered the IEC to use 15% more gas, replacing an equivalent amount of coal.

Ya'acov Zalel