Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered a welcome end of year gift to his nation’s solar industry: cutting through bureaucratic red tape hampering the construction of solar farms.
The commitment will help the Holy Land achieve its stated goal of generating 10 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Although committing to the 10 percent target in 2009, and with a five percent midway target by 2014, Israel has been slow to make real progress on the solar front – so far less than half of one percent of its total energy supply comes from renewables, despite possessing some of the most promising solar real estate in the form of sun-drenched hills and desert landscape.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said that under the solar plan, permits would be issued allowing solar panels to be placed on the roofs and sides of buildings and other designated structures. The plan also allows for the preparation of detailed plans for the construction of photovoltaic units on areas of up to 750 dunams (a Middle-East measurement: roughly 40 paces in length and breadth) in size.
The plan would also allow for solar farms to be built on and around sensitive cultural areas and heritage sites, including the Gaza strip, as well as on limited agricultural lands. For a nation with limited resources like Israel, which relies on nuclear for much of its energy needs, solar makes sense according to Netanyahu.
“Ours is a sun-drenched country,” he said. “Europe has snowstorms and we have sun. Similarly, ours is a technology-rich country, including in solar technology . . . the paradox is that when we try to join our technology with the sun, we cannot make progress due to our bureaucracy. Today’s decision simplifies this bureaucracy so that we will be able to enjoy our relative advantage, without harming the environment.”
