The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has announced plans to deploy four large-scale battery energy storage projects.
Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, which changed its name in February, said on May 2 that it was promoting a plan to deploy the four battery storage systems at four sites in the northern Gilboa Mountains region. The previous name was Israel’s Ministry of Energy to reflect a broader remit.
A large solar farm completed in 2018 in the Negev Desert in southern Israel
The total scale of these 4 battery energy storage projects is 800MW/3,200MWh, including 4 battery energy storage systems of 200MW/800MWh, and the duration of each battery energy storage system is 4 hours.
Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure described the plan as a “very important initiative for the energy sector” and said it was the first step in deploying large-scale energy storage in strategic grid planning. Future projects will be built in phases according to grid demand and will use different energy storage technologies.
Like many other countries, Israel’s huge demand for energy storage systems is driven by the requirement for a growing share of renewable energy in the grid. This is exacerbated by Israel’s status as an energy island, due to its small size, lack of interconnection with its neighbors, and its need to be largely self-sufficient.
The Israeli government has set a target of a 30% share of renewable energy generation by 2030 – roughly equivalent to building around 12GW of solar farms, the main form of renewable energy developed in sunny Israel. According to modeling by Israel’s national energy regulator PUA, the country needs about 2GW/8GWh of energy storage systems to integrate effectively.
Measures Israel has already taken include bidding for large-scale off-grid solar-plus-storage projects, with competitive bidding in 2020 awarding contracts for the deployment of 777MW of solar power and 3,072MWh of battery storage. The contract for the deployment of 609MW of solar power generation facilities and 2.4GWh of energy storage systems was subsequently awarded in the 2021 tender round.
And last month, the PUA implemented a subsidized electricity tariff for distributed solar power generation facilities that are matched with energy storage systems, aiming to subsidize those customers who use the stored solar power for their own use at night, and to ease the grid’s load at those times. energy needs.
The 800MW battery storage project launched by the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in Gilboa will play a similar role and be deployed on a much larger scale. Electricity generated from renewable energy sources in nearby parts of the country’s north will be stored in battery storage systems, which will transmit electricity to electricity demand centers during peak demand periods.
The four battery energy storage systems will be built near an existing transmission line in an area close to industrial areas, including some already operating and some under development. A number of solar facilities are also operating near the 71 acres earmarked for the battery storage project.
Israel Katz, Israel’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said the battery storage projects would be Israel’s first independently deployed large-scale energy storage systems with huge capacity and represent part of an overall policy and reform led by the ministry in the Knesset.
“Storing energy in this way will allow us to increase renewable energy generation, increase the reliability of the electricity supply, and stabilize grid operations, all of which will directly contribute to economic growth,” Katz said. “We are committed to developing renewable energy and are currently The initiative is an important step towards achieving this goal.”
By 2030, Israel may need 10GWh energy storage system.
Commenting on current efforts to deploy energy storage systems to integrate renewable energy, Eitan Parnass, founder of the Israel Green Energy Association, said that Israel’s demand for energy storage systems is more likely to be closer to 10GWh than 8GWh.
In an interview with industry media, he said that Israel still has a long way to go to achieve a 30% share of solar power generation. Israel’s accumulated renewable energy installed capacity has reached 4.5GW, 92% of which are solar power generation facilities), accounting for 10% of the national energy structure.
Parnass noted that initiatives such as the recent PUA tariff on distributed generation with energy storage aimed at alleviating grid congestion meant that it was almost impossible to install new rooftop solar beyond residential solar. Israel’s grid reforms are also underway, but could take years to implement, he said.
Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is currently advancing a planning outline for energy storage facilities, which includes planning procedures and permitting regulations. The master plan will be submitted to the government for approval by Israel’s National Planning and Construction Committee and Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
