OPIC Board of Directors Approves Commitment to Negev Solar Power Plant
March 20, 2014
(OPIC)
WASHINGTON – The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) today approved a $250 million loan to Negev Energy-Ashalim
Thermo-Solar, Ltd. to support construction of a 110-megawatt concentrated solar
power (CSP) plant in Israel’s Negev Desert.
This will be the first CSP facility to receive funding support from OPIC, the
U.S. Government’s development finance institution. Due to thermal storage
capability and other efficiency improvements, the capacity of a CSP plant can be
more than twice that of a solar photovoltaic plant. This renewable source of
power generation will be one of the first large-scale alternative energy
facilities in Israel, and helps both OPIC and the Obama Administration’s own
goals to support renewable energy projects, as well as Israel’s own recent
commitment to diversify beyond energy generated from fossil fuels.
“This project advances one of OPIC’s key strategic priorities to support the
development of renewable resources, and also uses an innovative solar
technology,” said Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO. “The
concentrated solar power design used for this plant is exciting, cutting-edge
technology that can dramatically increase power generation. This is a project
that shows how to provide a tremendously effective source of clean energy in a
region dependent on fossil fuel. This is a frontier I’m honored to be entering
with OPIC.”
The planned construction of the CSP facility is in Israel’s Negev desert, one of
the country’s least developed areas. The Negev Energy-Ashalim project is
expected to create hundreds of jobs during construction and employ over one
hundred people in both unskilled and technical capacities after the plant’s
completion.
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