Affordable and Clean Energy

In electricity production, the goal is the use of 80% natural gas and 20% or more from renewable energy sources by 2030, while shutting down the coal-fired power stations in Hadera and Ashkelon. Currently, 28% of all electricity production in Israel is coal-based. By 2028, the Minister instructed, the use of coal in all coal-fired power stations will stop entirely.

 In the industrial sector, the ultimate target is the discontinuance of the use of gasoline, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and diesel oil, and their replacement with cleaner and more efficient energy sources. For heavy industry – a continuous use of natural oil, for smaller industry – connecting consumers to a natural gas supply network. 

 In the transportation sector, Israel aims to achieve a gradual switch to electric vehicles and trucks powered by natural gas by 2030, and a total ban on the import of vehicles powered by polluting fuels, such as gasoline and diesel oil. One-hundred percent of all new vehicles in Israel will be powered by electricity and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

 As a consequence of the achievement of these goals, the Ministry of Energy hopes to reduce the effects of air pollution in Israel by 60% (a savings of 2.3 Billion NIS per year) and save at least 5.8 Billion NIS per year overall, giving Israel an accumulated benefit of 78.4 Billion NIS by 2040.

 New technologies for renewable energy have already made their mark in many regions across the country, particular in the South. A 121 MW thermo-solar power plant was recently completed in the Negev which will reduce approximately 245,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, and provide clean power solely from renewable energy to 60,000 households in Israel by 2020. Another project in the Negev – an 820-foot “tower of power”  – was built on concentrated solar power. A third project is a 35 MW solar plant based on photovoltaic, or PV, power – that is, the use of solar cells to generate electrical power.

 Several Israeli cities have also begun planning and working to create change in their energy usage. Kfar Sava and Rishon Letzion are attempting projects to recycle all of their cities’ garbage, while Kfar Sava is also cutting spending on electricity and waste collection, and expanding the use of solar energy. The city of Eilat is working to harness solar energy for all of the city’s electricity demands. And Tel Aviv is planning its first neighborhood with natural-gas pipelines.

 Over the past three years several energy-saving plans have been implemented: the Gas Pipeline agreement, an Energy Security plan, the removal of obstacles affecting the use of renewable energies, an infrastructure plan for loading and fueling, and the approval of reforms in the Israeli electricity sector.