Megalim Solar Power wins contract for 121MW Israeli solar thermal plant

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

Megalim Solar Power, a company established by BrightSource Energy and Alstom, has won the bid to build a 121MW solar thermal power plant in Israel. The construction contract was awarded by Israel’s inter-ministerial Tender Committee.

The 121MW BrightSource-Alstom Megalim plant is one of three projects selected under Israel’s Ashalim 250MW solar tender. It will be constructed on a 3.15 km2 site owned by the Ramat Negev Regional Council in the Negev Desert.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

As part of the contract, Megalim will plan, finance, construct, operate and maintain the power plant for 25 years, after which it will transfer ownership to the State of Israel. The project is scheduled to become operational in 2017.

Commenting on the win, Israel’s Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy and Water said: “The principal advantage of [BrightSource’s] solar thermal technology is its high reliability which enables it to constitute a real substitute to conventional power plants which consume fossil fuels, as opposed to some other renewable energy technologies.”

In addition to the 121MW project, the Ashalim tender also includes another CSP plant and one PV plant. When all three projects come online, they will account for an estimated 2% of Israel’s installed PV capacity. The projects will also help the country to achieve its goal of generating 10% of its electricity demand from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The accountant General at Israel’s Ministry of Finance, Michal Abadi-Boyanjo, congratulated the parties and the government on the award and said: “The construction of solar thermal plant in Ashalim will be another important step towards the implementation of the governmental targets for the production of electricity from renewable resources, while leveraging the creativity and innovativeness of the private sector, as reflected in the tenders promoted by the Accountant General Department”.

BrightSource is currently developing the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (Ivanpah SEGS) in California’s Mojave Desert. The US$2.2 billion CSP project will utilise BrightSource’s solar thermal power tower technology which uses heliostats to reflect the sun’s energy to a boiler atop a tower in order to produce high temperature and high-pressure steam. The steam is then integrated with conventional power plant components to produce “clean” energy.

Read Next

May 2, 2025
Sunraycer Renewables has signed two Environmental Attribute Purchase Agreements (EAPAs) with Meta for 310MW of solar PV in Texas, US.
May 2, 2025
A study from researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has shown that a synthetic molecule in the design of a perovskite solar cell can boost its energy efficiency and longevity.
May 2, 2025
The European Commission (EC) has allocated €52 million to nine renewable energy projects as part of its cross-border auction process.
May 2, 2025
The Q2 2025 edition (Volume 42) of our downstream solar PV journal, PV Tech Power, is now available to download.
May 2, 2025
Maxeon shipped just 211MW in the fourth quarter of 2024, driving a year-end revenue of less than half of what was reported in 2023.
May 2, 2025
AEMO said that new renewable energy generation and energy storage projects in the final commissioning phase in the NEM have reached 7GW.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
May 7, 2025
Munich, Germany
Solar Media Events
May 21, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK