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Home » Affordable and Clean Energy » SDG 7 -The (Energy) Answer is Blowing in the Wind-By Dr. Eitan Eliram Lead Innovation Strategist Feb 2024

SDG 7 -The (Energy) Answer is Blowing in the Wind-By Dr. Eitan Eliram Lead Innovation Strategist Feb 2024

Going back just two years, sober reports claimed that less than 3% of Israel’s energy came from renewable sources. But the wind turbines of change are already afoot: The Ministry of Energy is pushing hard to achieve a clean Israeli energy sector by 2030, and wind power plays a significant role in this endeavor.

The Israeli pioneer in the wind power industry is clearly Mey Eden mineral water company. The simple principle behind wind turbines is harnessing the wind to generate energy. The wind turns two or three propeller-type blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator, creating energy.

Israel’s very first wind farm was the Golan Heights Wind Farm, built in 1992 by Mey Eden and supported by the Ministry of Energy Infrastructure. It is also the first commercial wind-power project in the Middle East. Located 1050 m above sea level 5 km south of Quneitra. The energy generated by the 10 Floda 600 wind turbines generates 6 megawatts of energy, which is consumed by the Mey Eden plant, the Golan Heights winery, and about 20,000 residents of the Golan Heights. The remaining energy is fed into the electrical grid.

Founded in 2009 as part of the Alony Hetz investment Group, Energix is another leading Renewable Energy company that is active in both photovoltaic and wind power. Energix operates wind farms both in Israel and abroad. It’s Banie Wind Farm in Poland, generating 106 megawatts of energy, is the second largest in the world. In Israel, it’s 52-wind turbine farm under development in the north of the country is expected to generate 152 megawatts of energy, which is enough to power 66,000 homes.

In total, Energix currently generates 119MW of energy from wind farms in commercial operation, with 1GW more under development. It is no wonder that Energix is the winner of “The most Innovative Renewable Energy Company Award” for 2018 of The New Economy Magazine. It is the first Israeli company to win an award in the magazine.

The second target of goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy – of the SDGs expresses the hope that by 2030, the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix will be substantially increased. Mey Eden and Energix are two prime examples of other Israeli renewable energy companies that are working to reach this goal.