Israel launches tender for 100MW agricultural photovoltaic power generation

Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Energy has launched a tender to deploy around 100 MW of agricultural power at 100 locations across the country.

Eitan Parnass, director of the Israel Green Energy Association, told PV magazine: “Over the years, Israel has been world-renowned for its agricultural technology and world-leading for its innovative solar and energy technologies. So this is one of our government’s A natural move.”

The winning project will receive a 23-year fixed electricity price of 0.2091 Israeli New Shekel ($0.06.708)/kWh. Solar power generation must be associated with agricultural activities such as orchards, field crops, flowers, spices, and vineyards. Agricultural photovoltaic power generation facilities will be distributed in the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon, Maeth Yehuda Governorate, Jordan Valley, Eilot Region, Springs Valley, Upper Galilee, and Negev Desert.

Oded Forer, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “This pilot tender will benefit Israeli agriculture by ensuring maximum benefits for farmers, protecting agricultural land, and integrating agricultural activities with the promotion of our energy goals.”

The Israeli government wants to test the electricity generated by solar power plants on arable land. The country has been working on developing and testing agricultural power generation systems to generate electricity from solar panels above crops. The facilities will generate about 100 MW of electricity on different types of farmland spread across 100 locations in the country, Israel’s Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Energy said in a joint statement.

These facilities will focus on reducing high radiation and transpiration and simplifying irrigation. The plan is a new step towards the government’s ambition to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable energy to 30% by 2030.