Israel is on its way to a green energy revolution and it looks like the Bedouin community can play a big role in this.
Maram Energy, a small company run by the Gandhi Judith Recanati Foundation, will build Israel's first solar power plant on private Bedouin land. Construction, due to begin next year in Israel's southern Negev desert, will place a solar power plant on 150 hectares of land owned by several Bedouin families.
“We have deliberately decided to support these Bedouins and make them direct stakeholders, almost direct partners in their country,” Amir Alsheh, deputy CEO of Maram Energy, told The Media Line . “They are involved in the development, construction and operation of [the project]. They are also proprietors who receive an annuity."
The Bedouins are a nomadic Arab-Muslim tribe living in the Middle East and North Africa. More than 250,000 people live in Israel, mostly in the southern city of Rahat and in the cities of the Negev desert.
Maram Energy, based in the coastal city of Herzliya, says the Bedouins are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the historic project, and that their homes will be powered by the solar energy it produces throughout the day.
“This gives them a significant economic boost because it is much more sustainable and profitable than farming,” Alsheh said.
Projects like this advanced diplomacy
In addition to its projects in Bedouin land, Maram Energy recently gained attention with the purchase of a 30% stake in Moroccan Gaia Energy. The agreement aims to promote Gaia's green energy initiatives in the North African nation.
“Immediately after the signing of the Abraham Accords, we boarded a plane directly to Morocco,” Alsheh said of the move. “Relations between Israel and Morocco have a long history. A large number of people from Morocco live here.”
While only a small portion of Israel's electricity currently comes from renewable sources, the government announced earlier this year that it would double the country's solar power capacity by 2025. In general, Israel expects to receive 30-40% of its electricity from renewable sources. source until 2030
To date, the largest solar power plant in Israel is the Asalim Power Plant in the Negev Desert, which consists of three separate sites, each powered by solar, photovoltaic and natural gas. Over 50,000 mirrors surround the Asalim Tower, which is visible from afar and uses the thermal energy of the sun. Solar thermal energy uses the sun's energy to generate heat through mirrors or lenses.
Dorit Görlitz, who runs desert tours at the Ramat Negev Regional Agricultural Research Center for Renewable Energy, told The Media Line that Ashalim's mirrors need to be cleaned regularly by a large crew of workers because the desert is very dusty. .
“Solar thermal energy is very inefficient,” says Görlitz. “In recent years, photovoltaic technology has become much cheaper and more efficient.
Photovoltaic panels, which use special semiconductor materials to convert light into electricity, cost about ten times less than older solar thermal technologies, Görlitz says. For this reason, of the three sites associated with the Ashalim plant, only the photovoltaic site C has been enriched.
“The photovoltaic field has just doubled in size and will soon be operational,” Görlitz said. "Currently, about 10% of Israel's energy consumption comes from renewable sources. Between 3% and 4% of this amount comes from solar projects in the area." energy challenges, but with solar energy there are some hurdles to overcome.
"The biggest problem with solar power these days is that it's impossible to store electricity produced overnight," Gerlitz said. “We don’t have the technology to store electricity yet, and until we have that solution, solar energy cannot become a significant part of the energy market.”
Sde Görlitz spoke to Media Line as part of the 8th Drylands, Deserts and Desertification conference organized by the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Boker.
