Doral receives 75MW solar project from Mekorot

In a significant development, Israel’s national water company Mekorot announced that renewable energy company Doral has won a tender to install up to 75 megawatts of photovoltaic systems on the country’s water supply. The project will install green electricity production systems along a 16-kilometer stretch of the Nettofa Canal, which connects the Sea of Galilee to the Eshkol Reservoir Water Filtration Plant.

The tender, launched last August, involves a complex engineering effort combining dual-use designs with electricity storage. The project will be implemented in phases, with electricity storage added to provide power during afternoon and evening hours. The initiative is the first phase of Mekorot’s broader plan to equip its facilities with solar systems to produce renewable energy.

According to Mekorot and Doral, these dual-use projects on existing infrastructure will decentralize energy sources and increase green electricity production. Mekorot plans to expand these efforts to sewage tanks, and preliminary assessments indicate the potential to generate hundreds of megawatts of electricity, equivalent to several conventional power plants.

Yossi Jacobi, Vice President of Engineering and Innovation at Mekorot, said: “Any additional investment in improving and reducing our energy costs will lower our operating costs, diversify our electricity supply sources, significantly reduce our carbon footprint and help us achieve our state goals.”

Adv. Avital Ofek, COO of Doral Israel, also stressed the importance of efficient land use in Israel, a country with limited land resources. “In a small and densely populated country like Israel, land is a limited resource, and therefore, dual use of land and the establishment of dual-use projects, such as the groundbreaking project at the top of the national carrier, is a necessary need to shift to renewable energy sources while preserving other land uses, such as agricultural development,” Ofek explained.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Eli Cohen added that the solar installation project on the national carrier integrates the water and electricity sectors, with the aim of increasing the use of solar energy. “We are taking many actions to achieve our goals for electricity production from renewable energy sources, which will increase Israel’s energy independence, reduce air pollution and enable competitive pricing for the consumer,” Cohen concluded.

Environment and Climate Change is produced in partnership with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post makes all editorial decisions regarding content.