American Military News by Dean Shmuel Elmas - Globes 9/12/2024
Flooding the country’s rooftops with solar panels will cost the economy over NIS 1.1 billion annually, compared with use of very large solar fields in the Negev, according to a report by the National Economic Council, headed by Prof. Avi Simhon, on the economic viability of solar field projects, which “Globes” can reveal for the first time.
The study by David Bedell and Itamar Milrad found that while the marginal price to the economy (taxes deducted) of producing electricity using natural gas is NIS 0.07 per kilowatt-hour, additional electricity production using solar panels with existing technology costs between NIS 0.12 in very large fields in the Negev, and NIS 0.48 per kilowatt-hour on the roofs of homes.
In the opening remarks of the report, Prof. Simhon points out that the extra cost for renewable energy currently stands at about NIS 2.5 billion per year, while meeting the goals set for 2030 of 30% production from renewable energy will incur an additional cost of about NIS 3.1 billion per year. However, if most of the electricity comes from large fields, the extra cost will amount to about NIS 2 billion per year. “It is important that the decisions on how much renewable energy should be produced be made after public discussion, in which data will be provided on the meanings of the various options,” Simhon tells Globes.
The bottom line, according to the report, is that meeting the targets with the existing technologies makes electricity for the economy 11%-14% more expensive. Technological progress in the industry and a decrease in the costs of the parts means that in the future, the gap in the extra cost of electricity production, which is set in long-term contracts, is expected to fall.
These conclusions come one month after the National Planning and Construction Commission approved regulations led by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the Planning Administration, in which every new non-residential building and every new detached house will be required to install solar panel systems for the production of renewable energy. As part of the new regulations, it has been set that any new non-residential building with a roof area larger than 250 square meters, will be required to instal a renewable energy production system.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/09/govt-report-slams-rooftop-solar-panels-as-too-costly/
