Israel’s new underwater power line stretches about 150 km from Ashkelon north to Haifa. The government says the new cable can be connected to an undersea transmission line that Israel, Greece and Cyprus plan to build in the Mediterranean.
The Israeli government said the project’s marine area is in line with the area designated for natural gas operations. It noted the need to assess electrical cables, natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure to mitigate environmental impacts.
The government also noted the possibility of connecting the new cable to the undersea power line planned by Israel, Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean. This interconnector is expected to be completed by 2024 and completed by 2025, and would have a power capacity of 1,000 MW to 2,000 MW.
The new cable is also designed to connect to existing transmission lines that currently distribute electricity to Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf states. Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz noted the importance of the project in promoting Israel’s electricity grid and establishing the country as an energy powerhouse.
“We want to become the energy bridge that connects East and West,” Katz said.
Israel recently introduced several measures to support the development of solar energy. In late May, Israel’s land authority issued a tender to lease 28,000 hectares (11,331 acres) in the Negev desert for the deployment of large-scale solar power plants. In April, the Finnish Electricity Agency introduced an additional tariff for low-voltage solar power plants integrated into energy storage systems. In March, the government introduced new regulations that allow bilateral power purchase agreements between independent power producers and end customers.
The country already has around 5 GW of solar electricity. Its renewable energy goal is 20% of production by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Extrapolated from the current situation, this corresponds to approximately 17 GW of solar energy production.
