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"The start of whale activity has significantly reduced the price of natural gas" Israel today

2021-08-14T20:43:25.939Z


Electricity Authority Report for 2020: In the Corona Year, the demand for electricity decreased dramatically • The state did not meet the production target for renewable energies • On the other hand, the amount of carbon emissions decreased from what was expected


Natural gas prices fell significantly following the start of the operation of the Whale Reservoir, "the Electricity Authority states in a summary report for 2020. The weighted cost per unit of heat was $ 5.05 at the end of 2020 - compared to $ 5.61 at the end of 2019 - a decrease of about 10%.

It should be noted that in 2021 the price will decrease further, to less than NIS 5.

"At the end of 2019, the Whale Reservoir began commercial operation," the Electricity Authority explains.

In the last quarter of 2020, the price of gas was reduced for the additional quantities beyond the base quantity, in the IEC agreement with the Tamar reservoir.

These two significantly reduced the average gas company's gas price for 2020. "

The Electricity Authority notes that as of July 1, the price of gas to the IEC for the basic quantities from the Tamar reservoir has been significantly reduced, to around $ 4.5 per unit of heat.

On the way to achieving the goal

Natural gas is the most dominant electricity generation component - two-thirds of the total fuel mix.

After in recent years the Tamar reservoir accounted for more than 80% of the IEC's gas sources, in 2020 it accounted for less than half.

This year, 43% of the mix was purchased from the Whale Reservoir, which began operating commercially at the end of 2019.

At the same time, the declining trend in the use of coal for electricity production continues, and its share dropped to 26%, compared with 30% in 2019, and almost 60% in 2010 - a decrease of more than 50%.

By 2025, the share of coal in the economic mix is ​​expected to decrease to only 3%, while the share of natural gas is expected to increase to 76%.

The renewable energies will constitute 21%.

Renewable energies: The target of 10% electricity production from these energies for 2020 was not achieved, and last year the potential for renewable energy production was 7%.

During the year, about 400 megawatts of renewable energy production facilities came into operation.

This is a lower growth rate than 2019, due to delays in commercial operating dates caused by the corona crisis.

The Electricity Authority claims that by the end of the current year the target of 10% will be achieved.

The Electricity Authority is proud to have recommended that former Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz jumpstart Israel's renewable energy targets for 2030 from 17% to 30% - that is, to triple reliance on unstable energies in less than a decade.

The government decision set the goal as governmental. 

According to the report, the demand for electricity has dropped dramatically in the corona year - according to a report by the Electricity Authority for 2020, published last weekend.

In 2020, which was largely sheltered under the shadow of the Chinese virus, the demand for electricity increased by only 0.1% compared to 2019 - compared to an average of more than 2% in the increase in demand for electricity in each of the following years between 2019-2015.

The data show that despite a natural increase in demand for electricity in the private sector, since during the closures people stayed at home for much longer periods of time than on weekdays, the sharp decline in electricity use in the industrial sector had a higher specific gravity.

The decline continues

It also shows that the IEC's share of the electricity supply market share continues to decline, amounting to 64% at the end of last year - compared with 73% in 2019. At the same time, the share of private producers in electricity production increased from 34% to 39%.

In the past year, there was a slight increase in the number of IEC employees, which amounted to 11.2 thousand people, compared with 11,000 in 2019.

For the first time since 2013, when 13,000 people were employed by the Electric Company, this is the first time that the number of employees has increased and not decreased.

According to the Electricity Authority's forecast, by 2022 the IEC's workforce will be reduced to 9,300 people.

Regarding air pollution from electricity, at the end of the year, greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector amounted to about 8.3 tons per capita.

This is in front of the implied target for the electricity sector for 2030 of 85.3 tons per capita (50% of the government target).

According to the Electricity Authority, "This is a tenth of the government's target for a decade. This achievement indicates the positive impact of implementing a policy of switching from coal use to natural gas and renewable energies.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-08-14

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