Israel's Teralight inaugurates 31MW floating solar project

Israel-based solar developer Teralight, through its subsidiary Menorah Synergy, has delivered and inaugurated a 31MW floating solar PV energy project.

Touted as Israel's largest, the PV field covers a total area of approximately 587,000 square metres and floats above Kibbutz Maayan Zvi reservoirs in south Haifa.

The project, which cost approximately NIS130 million ($34 million) to build, saw the existing project in HaBonim Reservoir joined by two large solar rafts, one of which incorporates solar trackers from Israeli company Xfloat.

The trackers are designed to track the movement of the sun in the water reservoir and use the water to tilt the panels.

The unique project was carried out as part of a policy led by the Carmel Coast Regional Council for the roofing of waterways and reservoirs.

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The plan was formulated together with the Haifa District Planning Bureau, government ministries and various green bodies and accompanied the building of the water reservoir in Moshav Bonim and fish ponds in Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael.

Yoed Ludar, CEO of Hof Carmel Energies: "Today, we inaugurated Israel's largest and most unique floating solar project...This is another step in covering all the water reservoirs for agriculture on the Carmel Coast and producing green electricity on a large scale for the consumption of all the households in the Carmel Coast settlements.

"The project will allow water to be reduced for agriculture and help preserve green space along the entire stretch of the coastal plain between Hadera and Haifa," added Ludar.

Teralight CEO, Rani Lifshitz: "There is no doubt that this is the greenest way to generate electricity - making the best use of the sun and an existing resource. We thank Synergy, the Carmel Coast Regional Council, and Bank Leumi for their partnership along the way".

The Ma'ayan Zvi project is the largest in a series of solar projects by Menorah Synergy. The firm has a portfolio of 124MW (DC) on roofs and water reservoirs throughout the country.

Renewables in Israel

In the past, Israel has struggled to meet renewable energy targets, which according to the International Trade Administration has been the result of bureaucratic bottlenecks, a lack of land resources, and underdeveloped transmission infrastructure from remote generation sites.

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Also, the country has relied on offshore gas that can produce electricity at a lower cost than solar, further slowing the deployment of PV.

The government of Israel made a decision in October 2020 to target 30% of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2030. According to this plan, solar will account for approximately 90% of the electricity, and wind, water and biomass will provide the remaining 10%.