Israel launches tender for 100 MW of agrivoltaics

Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Energy have launched a tender to deploy around 100 MW of agrivoltaic capacity across 100 locations in the country.

“Israel’s agri-tech segment is already well known for many years, and also its innovative solar and energy tech segment,” Eitan Parnass,  the director of Israel’s Green Energy Association, told pv magazine. “So it is a natural move from our government.”

Selected projects will be awarded a fixed tariff ILS 0.2091 ($0.06.708)/kWh over a 23-year period. Solar power generation will have to be associated with agricultural activities such as orchards, field crops, flowers, spices and vineyards. The agrovoltaic facilities will be spread through regions such as the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon, Mateh Yehuda, the Jordan Valley, the Eilot region, the Springs Valley, the Upper Galilee, and the Negev desert.

“This is a pilot tender that will benefit Israeli agriculture by maximizing farmers’ profits, preserving agricultural land and combining agricultural activities with promoting our energy goals,” said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Oded Forer.

The Israeli government wants to test electricity generated from solar power facilities on arable land. The country has been developing and testing agrivoltaic systems to allow electricity to be generated from solar panels above crops. Such facilities will generate about 100 MW of power on different types of farmland at 100 locations in Israel, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Energy said in a joint statement.

The facilities will focus on reducing high radiation and transpiration and streamlining irrigation. The plan is another step related to a government decision to increase the target for electricity generation from renewable energy to 30% by 2030.