The Energy Ministry on Tuesday unveiled an 80 billion shekel ($22.8 billion) plan to increase the use of solar power over the next decade, as Israel's population and energy demand are set to surge.
Though awash with sunlight, at the end of last year Israel was producing just 5% of its electricity from solar energy. About 64% came from natural gas and the rest from coal.
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Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said the new target is to outpace rising demand and have solar power production grow to 30% by 2030, or about 16,000 megawatts. That is roughly the same as total energy production today.
At peak hours, more than 80% of Israel's electricity will be generated by the sun, according to the plan. The Energy Ministry aims to completely phase out coal by 2026.
Steinitz said most of the money will go into solar energy facilities to be built by the private sector. Other costs include upgrading the national grid and investing in energy storage.
This program will cut air pollution by 93% in comparison with 2015.
Under the plan, sunlight will be the source of 90% of the power produced from renewable sources, while other sources such as wind, water, and biomass will supply the remaining 10%.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Steinitz said he plans to make the solar energy plan the main focus of his second term as energy minister.
"A target of 30% renewable energy will turn Israel into a world leader in solar energy use. Within 10 years, we will have to construct solar energy and power storage installations on a scale equivalent to all the power plants and power production existing in Israel today."
Still, a goal of 30% of power production from renewable energy sources is fairly conservative compared to similar goals set by other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, some of which have gone so far as to set a goal of 100%.
In Europe, wind is the main source of energy, whereas in Israel the potential for power production from wind energy is close to zero.
According to financial daily Globes, a recent Environmental Protection Ministry survey found that Israel could exceed 50% of power from renewable sources by making maximum use of areas of land already designated for that purpose.
Commenting on the study, Steinitz said, "Israel doesn't have rivers like in Norway or Albania, wind like in Denmark, or geothermal energy like in New Zealand, and so we cannot be compared to these countries."
Steinitz said that reaching 26% of its power production capacity from solar energy will put Israel among the leading countries in the world for solar power production.
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