The 121 MW BrightSource-Alstom Megalim plant, one of three projects selected under Israel’s Ashalim 250 megawatt total solar tender, will be located in the Ramat Negev Regional Council.
Megalim Solar Power Ltd. (“Megalim”) – a special purpose company formed by BrightSource Energy and Alstom – was informed today by Israel’s inter-ministerial Tender Committee that it won the bid for the construction of a 121 megawatt solar thermal power plant.
The 121 megawatt BrightSource-Alstom Megalim plant, one of three projects selected under Israel’s Ashalim 250 megawatt total solar tender, will be located in the Ramat Negev Regional Council 3.15 square kilometer site in the Negev Desert. Megalim will now be required to plan, finance, build, operate and maintain the power plant throughout a concession period of 25 years and then transfer ownership to the State of Israel. The project is scheduled to come online in 2017.
In jointly announcing the Ashalim tender win, Israel’s Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy and Water noted: "The principal advantage of [BrightSource’s] solar thermal technology is its high reliability which enables it to constitute a real substitute to conventional power plants which consume fossil fuels, as opposed to some other renewable energy technologies."
Announced in 2008, the Ashalim tender includes two CSP plants and one photovoltaic technology power plant. Once all three Ashalim projects are financed and constructed they will generate approximately 2% of Israel’s installed capacity, and help Israel achieve its goal of having 10 percent of its electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance, Ms Michal Abadi-Boyanjo, congratulated the parties and the government on the award and noted that, “the construction of solar thermal plant in Ashalim will be another important step towards the implementation of the governmental targets for the production of electricity from renewable resources, while leveraging the creativity and innovativeness of the private sector, as reflected in the tenders promoted by the Accountant General Department”.
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