Electricity network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, prayer and rest rooms: located and destroyed in the tunnels of the general headquarters of the terrorist organization Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip / IDF spokesperson
The Competition Authority calls for the approval of the two new power plants and warns that failure to approve them may lead to an increase in electricity rates: "The grave concern for the reliability of the electricity supply in the Gush Dan area".
The Competition Authority's position was given against the background of the discussion today, due to the request of the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Eli Cohen, to conduct another discussion on the approval of two additional power plants in the center.
In the letter sent by the Commissioner for Competition, Michal Cohen, to the Director General of the Ministry of Energy, she warns of the consequences of not approving the construction of the stations. According to Cohen, "the Competition Authority supports the promotion of the TTL and believes that considerations of competition in the electricity sector require the approval of the stations."
The Competition Authority is warning: Failure to approve the new power plants may lead to an increase in electricity rates: "As I recall, the plants were already submitted for approval by the government about a year ago together with the Kesem power plant, and this against the background of the serious concern about the reliability of the electricity supply in the Gush Dan area. However, at the government meeting it was decided to approve only the Kesem and Durad stations, while the Reindir and OPC stations were returned for a renewed discussion in the Vethal. Now the two stations are again being brought up for discussion in the government, and the position of the competition authority should be approved from considerations of promoting industry competition."
Cohen adds that competition due to the addition of stations will affect the lowering of the electricity rate: "The existence of a competitive procedure will allow the stations to compete with each other for the availability rate that will be paid to them by a system manager the electricity This is compared to a situation where the state will waive in advance the existence of price competition between two stations and the Electricity Authority will be forced to determine the availability rate without a competitive procedure. Naturally, such a determination cannot be made in an optimal way, and it may lead to a price increase in the tariff in a way that is expected to be passed on to the electricity consuming public."
Cohen concludes that "a government decision that prevents the approval of the plans is likely to harm the efficiency of the construction of the additional station in the area and may lead to a price increase in the costs of its operation for the public".
Cohen thereby joins the position of the Treasury when the Ministry of Finance cannot quite understand why the Minister of Energy, Eli Cohen, stands on the back foot and opposes the construction of two new power plants.
The budget department in the Treasury issued a letter last Thursday calling on the members of the government to support the construction of the power plants at the government meeting on Sunday. Yonatan Florsheim, the energy coordinator in the budget department, demands that the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the Planning Director clarify in writing and in advance why these power plants must be built and why they are critical to the continued regular supply of electricity to the citizens of Israel in the coming years.
After a long period in which no large power plants were built in Israel, the government is expected to discuss today (Sunday) the construction of two new power plants. The state has already published a tender for the construction of a power plant in Shork and the Electricity Authority has published a draft regulation for additional power plants, however, at the request of the Minister of Energy, the government is expected to hold a discussion on the issue.
These stations are required to be built in view of the increase in demand for electricity due to electric vehicles and the increase in the needs of the economy. The Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, the Electricity Authority and the Planning Administration are currently working on recommendations to the government regarding the extent of the power plants needed by the economy in the near future. This is about 10-15 additional stations.
The electricity sector will need additional power plants in order to satisfy the demand for electricity, even if the Israeli government sets very ambitious targets for the production of electricity from renewable energy, the rest will come from power plants.
Ahead of the discussion in the government next day on the electricity sector, the Ministry of Finance is calling on the ministers to support the construction of the two new power plants. Sources in the Ministry of Finance maintain that these stations are required both to allow competition in the electricity market and to ensure the future needs of the economy.
All the regulators in the electricity sector support the approval of the plans for the new stations, including the Electricity Authority and the System Management Company, as well as the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Administration. Whoever opposes the approval of the plans, and stands on the back foot so that they do not come to fruition, is unimaginably no different than the Minister of Energy.
The approval should be on his shift, but the power outages and the increase in electricity prices will only be felt for years to come, on someone else's shift. what does he care
The more new and efficient stations there are, the greater the competition. But no one likes to approve the construction of power plants. No politician is interested in getting into trouble with the residents, who don't really want a station to be built over their heads, so they prefer that they be built without prior discussion.
In May 2023, the government approved statutory plans for only two stations instead of four, which harms competition for electricity and rolls into the pockets of consumers. In this way, a station will be built near the Kesem interchange, which will not have competitors and will be able to demand high availability prices (prices at which it is on standby in case they need to operate it) and also sell the energy at high prices.
These are billions of overpayments over the life of the station. A possible competition for this station is the Reindeer station next to Route 6. If it is not built - we will all be in big trouble and very soon.
Response from the Office of the Minister of Energy: "We are looking into the needs"
The Office of the Minister of Energy stated: "By 2030, there is a planning inventory of more than 3 power plants while only two are required. Accordingly, the professional work of the Ministry of Energy must be completed to examine the exact needs and make recommendations accordingly."