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Israeli Desert Yields a Harvest of Energy

(New York Times) Isabel Kershner - Yosef Abramowitz, a social activist, Jewish educator and multimedia entrepreneur from Boston, Ed Hofland, a businessman from Kibbutz Ketura, and David Rosenblatt, an investor and strategist from New Jersey, founded the Arava Power Company, now the leading commercial developer of solar power in Israel. 20 acres of photovoltaic panels from China - 18,600 in all - that harness the sun. There is no smoke, only a slight buzz in the spotless rooms where the panels' current is turned into electricity that can be fed into the electrical grid. Depending on the time of year and rate of energy consumption, this field provides power for as many as five communities. Siemens, the German conglomerate, invested $15 million, and its Israeli branch built the field. The Jewish National Fund made a strategic investment of $3 million in a twist on the national ideal of making the desert bloom. Last month, Israel's Public Utility Authority issued licenses for nine larger solar fields, including a 150-acre site at Ketura that will eventually meet one-third of the peak daytime energy needs in the city of Eilat. Arava Power has entered deals to lease land from numerous farms and communities in southern Israel. It has also teamed up with Bedouins in the Negev Desert: the tribes will lease their lands to Arava Power for solar installations, and the company will provide jobs for the clans.
2012-04-27 00:00:00
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