Belectric builds another floating solar park in Israel

From pv magazine Germany

German engineering, procurement and construction services company Belectric, which German utility RWE recently agreed to sell to Czech power utility CEZ Group, is set to begin construction on a 16.8 MW floating solar plant on a water reservoir near Kibbutz Ma'ayan Tzvi in ​​the north of Israel.

The plant will be the fourth floating project built by Belectric in the country and the first for local energy company S'Energy. “Each of the more than 30,000 PV modules will be individually mounted on a floating platform,” Belectric said in a statement. “The PV system is connected to the mainland via floating marine grade power lines. The floating platform itself is held in place by an anchoring and mooring system with direct rammed piers.”

Last year, Belectric announced the start of construction for a 19.3 MW floating photovoltaic system it is still building for French energy giant EDF. In March 2020 it completed a 480 kW floating PV plant for Israeli energy business Nofar Energy.

Belectric Israel Ltd. has built 35 solar projects with a total capacity of around 570 MW in Israel, including the country's largest solar facility — the 120 MW Zeélim solar park, near the village of the same name in southern Israel.

“This is already the fourth floating PV project we are realizing for customers in Israel,” said Anna Velikansky, managing director of Belectric's Israeli unit. “The greatest advantage of floating solar is that it reduces land utilization and site preparation issues associated with traditional solar installations. An additional benefit is that the water cools the panels naturally, which should increase their efficiency.”