Israel Passes Incentives for Household Solar

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001208

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
Department for EEB/ESC/IEC and OES/EGC
DOE for EERE and NREL - Pugh and Bruce
Amman for ESTH Bhalla

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENGR EINV IS
SUBJECT: Israel Passes Incentives for Household Solar


1. (U) Israel's Public Utilities Authority under the Ministry for
National Infrastructure approved a plan June 2 to buy electricity
from independent power producers (i.e. private individuals or
businesses) who install photovoltaic panel power systems on their
roofs. Both corporate and individual producers can receive NIS 2.01
per kilowatt hour for feeding into the power grid. (This equals
approximately USD 0.60 at the rate of 3.35 New Israeli Shekels per
USD.) Individuals will be limited to generating up to 15 KW and
businesses up to 50 KW.


2. (U) Israeli solar power companies and equipment manufacturers
were enthusiastic about the measure. The new incentive program makes
photovoltaics economically viable for purchasers of equipment,
manufacturers said, even given the high capital investment costs of
such systems. (Comment: Photovoltaic power nonetheless remains
expensive; since individual power consumers pay 0.50 NIS per KW for
electricity, the high feed-in rate implies a subsidy from the
government-owned power company IEC.)


3. (SBU) The measure to encourage alternative energy production
reflects a breakthrough for the Arava Power Company, based at
Kibbutz Ketura in the Negev desert. Arava has fought for years for
the right to feed into the national power grid, and has now opened
the door to alternative - albeit expensive - power sources for
Israel's baseload capacity. Minister of National Infrastructure
Ben-Eliezer praised the Authority's decision and said Israel must
continue a revolution in favor of solar energy and energy
independence. Ben-Eliezer also called for comparable feed-in
tariffs for wind generated power. Israel has benefited for decades
from mandatory solar hot-water systems for residences, which saves
the country considerably on natural gas imports or electric power
consumption.

JONES