EDF Renewables bags 300 MW in Israeli PV tender for record-low price

France’s EDF Renewables has won a government tender to construct a 300-MW solar photovoltaic power plant in the Israeli Negev desert town of Dimona after offering the lowest-ever price per kilowatt-hour of electricity in Israel.

The Israeli ministry of energy and infrastructure said in a press release on Thursday that the solar plant tender achieved an “unprecedented” price of below ILS 0.07 (USD 0.0189/EUR 0.0170) per kWh. While the exact amount was not disclosed, the ministry said it came below the previous record-low price achieved in the July 2024 tender for the construction of the 100-MW Ashalim 3 solar plant. The price for that project, also submitted by EDF Renewables, fell below ILS 0.07/kWh for the first time in Israel's history.

The public-private partnership (PPA) tender was managed by the inter-ministerial tender committee for solar energy projects, promoted by the Accountant General in cooperation with the Israel Electric Corporation and the ministries of finance and energy. The French renewables company was selected to finance, plan, build, operate and maintain the Dimona solar farm, which is set to be the largest power plant in Israel using the photovoltaic technology, the energy ministry said.

The solar farm, spanning approximately 3,000 dunams (300 ha/741.3 acres) at the Dimona site, will join a series of PPP projects in the area, including two concentrated solar power plants and two photovoltaic plants that already supply over 300 MW to the grid. With the Ashalim 3 and Dimona solar farms, the area will generate over 700 MW of renewable energy.

(ILS 1.0 = USD 0.270/EUR 0.243)

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