Country’s largest solar project launches in Israel’s Jezreel Valley

Israeli solar energy company Teralight, along with the Moshavim (agricultural) Movement and the Environmental Protection Ministry, announced the launch of the country’s largest solar project last Thursday.

The project, called Ta’anakh, is part of a strategic partnership with French company Sun’Agri to replace solar panels in agricultural fields. The partnership combines Teralight’s solar panels with Sun’Agri’s dynamic solar-field management software and will reportedly balance the amount of light or shade needed by the plants with the electricity production of the solar panels.

The project will allow for the two efforts – solar power generation and agriculture – to happen in the same location, despite the two considered to be in conflict.

Israel is an ideal location for solar power production due to the amount of sunlight it receives annually and because of its large sections of arable land suitable for farming.

Only about 10% of Israel’s electricity is currently derived from solar power, according to the Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry.

When the Ta’anakh project becomes operational in 2024, it will reportedly produce 250 megawatts of power, which is about 5.2% of Israel’s green energy and 1.2% of its overall electric capacity.

“The Ta’anakh project advances Israel a significant step towards increasing the use of electricity produced from clean solar energy, produced by Blue and White. [Israel],” according to Teralight CEO Rani Lifshitz.

“The practical meaning of 250 megawatts in the Ta’anakh project, on its two parts, is the supply of electricity to about 60 thousand homes in Israel, during the first half of 2024,” he said.

Idit Silman, Israel’s minister of Environmental Protection, said the project will “contribute significantly to increasing production rates from renewable energies.”

Lifshitz confirmed that Teralight has a backlog of about 1,300 megawatts of solar power production in Israel alone. The company has several other projects it hopes to complete over the next three years. If successful in its deployment, Teralight will become one of the leading solar companies in Israel.

According to Israel’s own energy roadmap, 30% of electricity production should come from renewable sources by 2030. In order to hit this target, the government is focusing on so-called dual-use solar projects, such as rooftops, water reservoirs or agrisolar projects like the Ta’anakh.

Teralight is one of some 20 solar power companies currently operating in Israel.