Government Authorizes Agrivoltaic Project Plans in Border Communities

The government authorized PowerGen Ltd. and Nofar Energy in Israel Ltd. on Wednesday, November 11, to prepare national infrastructure plans for large agrivoltaic projects in border communities. The Energy and Infrastructure Ministry said the companies had been authorized to submit the plans to the National Infrastructure Committee. The proposed facilities would combine renewable electricity generation with energy storage. The ministry identified agricultural land allocations belonging to Shokeda, in the Sdot Negev Regional Council in southern Israel, and to Gesher HaZiv and Kibbutz Eilon, in the Mateh Asher Regional Council in the north. Each project is expected to cover more than 1,000 dunams and have an electricity generation capacity of between 100 and 150 megawatts. Their planned output would supply the national electricity grid. The authorization follows a proposal put forward by the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry. The ministry said the projects would contribute to the government’s renewable and clean electricity generation target for 2030. Preparation of the national infrastructure plans and their submission to the committee are the next steps set out in the authorization.