What was meant to be Israel's largest solar energy project has hit a snag. Last week, the Ministry of Finance Accountant General Department, headed by Rony Hizkiyahu, published a preliminary document for a tender for construction of the project on a large site near Dimona. Sources inform "Globes," however, that Israel Land Authority (ILA) was astounded by the published document, which it said had not been coordinated with it. ILA says that extensive mining is taking place on part of the land referred to in the document.
A 750-acre solar field
The Accountant General's document refers to a national infrastructure project begun four years ago by the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources to find a site for a solar energy venture. The 3,000-dunam (750-acre) project, located southwest of Dimona, is being promoted by the National Committee for Planning Priority Housing Areas. The power plant is planned to produce 300 megawatts using photovoltaic technology, which will make it Israel's largest solar power plant. The proposed plant will help achieve the government's targets for producing electricity from renewable energy sources.
Here will arise a solar farm
The Accountant General Department previously reached agreement with the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources, that the tender it would publish would include construction of the facility by the tender winner. The company that builds the project will receive the proceeds from the facility for a period to be stated in the tender, after which it will belong to the state, similar to the Ashalim solar tenders published late in the last decade. The tender is also supposed to include ILA, which manages state-owned land. ILA is to determined the price of the land, but things have not gone as planned.
Talks took place last year between ILA and the Accountant General Department about formulating an agreement, the land to be included in it, and the consideration to be given to the state for the land, but the parties have yet to reach any agreement. ILA apparently preferred to conduct the tender itself, like other tenders for solar ventures published by ILA in the past in Timna, Mitzpe Ramon, and Ein Evrona in the Arava region.
Is sunlight more important than sand?
Among other things, the dispute between the parties revealed that there were large sand deposits estimated at six million tons, worth NIS 50 million, on the land. Since the sand cannot be mined after the power plant is constructed, ILA officials wanted to allow sand mining to go ahead before the solar venture was carried out. As far as is known, no decision has been taken in the matter. A joint committee of the Ministry of Finance; Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources; and the Public Utilities Authority (electricity), headed by Itsik Marmelstein, head of the energy and water unit and private public partnership (PPP) projects in the Accountant General department, announced last week that the pre-selection documents for the tender had been published. It was also announced that construction of the power station was slated to begin in late 2021 and be completed in 2023.
The announcement enraged officials at the ILA, because it had reached no agreements yet with the Accountant General Department about the consideration for the land and removal of the sand from the site.
ILA declined to respond, but confirmed that there were differences of opinion between it and the Accountant General Department. An ILA source told "Globes" that the ILA was able to delay the project considerably unless the Ministry of Finance reached agreements with it on the outline for going ahead with the solar project.
The Accountant General Department said in response, "There is full coordination between ILA and the Accountant General Department on the allocation of the land and the timetable. Discussions were held and agreements reached on the subject with both ILA management and the district. The date for vacating the land set in the sand mining tender has been coordinated, so that work on construction of the solar facility will begin when the mining work has been completed."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 27, 2020
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