Solar Israel Regulatory Framework
Regulatory Framework |
In January 2009, and based on earlier resolutions, the Israeli Government set a target of generating 10% of Israeli energy consumption from renewable sources. This target implies a capacity build-up of approximately 2GW from renewable sources. Indeed, the Israeli government, through the Public Utility Authority (“PUA”) that is the governmental body that regulates the electricity tariffs, started to promote FITs schemes to encourge solar energy power generation. FIT for small installationsIn July 2008, the PUA issued a FIT for small rooftop Installations of up to 50KWp. As of January 2010 the FIT is 2.04 NIS (which equals approximately $0.53 at a 3.8 NIS/USD exchange rate) and once granted it is fixed for 20 years with annual inflation adjustment . Originally, the total budget allocated to this FIT was 50MWp, of which 15MWp were reserved to residential installations of up to 15KWp.In December 2009, the cap for the commercial (15KWp-50KWp) rooftop installations was filled . Accordingly the FIT for the commercial rooftops is no longer available. The FIT is still available for residential installations of up to 15KWp. The PUA may issue a new FIT for rooftops during 2010. FIT for medium-size installationsIn January 2010, the PUA issued the FIT for projects with capacity greater of 51KWp. The upper capacity of projects under this FIT is limited by the available capacity of the connection point to the grid distribution network. Generally, the maximum capacity of such connection point is 8MVA, but in certain cases the connection can be increased to 12MVA. The FIT is 1.49 NIS (which equals approximately $0.4 at a 3.8 NIS/USD exchange rate) and once granted it is fixed for 20 years with inflation adjustment. The total budget allocated to this FIT is 300MW over 5 years. There is a 5% reduction of the FIT each year starting on 2012 until and including 2014 or upon meeting certain caps – 50MW, then 65MW and finally 85MW – whichever condition is met earlier.FIT for large-scale installations and Thermo-Solar ProjectsIn December 2009, the PUA issued a draft FIT and related documents for large scale projects, either PV or thermo-solar. The draft FIT is 1.05NIS (which equals approximately $0.27 at a 3.8 NIS/USD exchange rate) for facilities of up to 60MWp and 0.96NIS (which equals approximately $0.25 at a 3.8 NIS/USD exchange rate) for facilities larger than 60MWp. Once granted to a licensee, the FIT is fixed for 20 years with monthly inflation adjustment. The FIT allows up to 2% use of fossil fuels. The total capacity allocated to this FIT is 500MWp and it will be in effect until this capacity is reached or 4 years from approval of the FIT, whichever is earlier.
* Assuming
a 3.8 NIS/USD exchange rate
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