The writing was on the wall, but the government chose to ignore it, and last weekend the citizens of Israel experienced power cuts because of a shortage of electricity. Another incident that occurred on Friday afternoon was the malfunction of the Karish rig, which malfunctioned and only returned to work at 7 pm.
The problem is that apparently this is not an isolated incident, but only a promo for what may happen in the coming years, until more power plants are built. The climate crisis brings with it quite extreme weather changes, and the demand for electricity is rising dramatically due to the transition to electric vehicles and population growth.
Fortunately, the heat wave fell on a Friday and not on a normal working day, so electricity consumption was relatively low, thus avoiding a much more serious crisis. The electricity shortage measured on Friday was estimated at about 900 megawatts, and if it were a normal working day, the shortage would have reached about 2,000 megawatts, according to estimates. In other words, if the extreme heat wave had fallen on the middle of the week with the same level of preparedness as the systems, the number of households and tens of thousands of businesses without electricity would have reached more than a million – up from 300,<> at the peak last Friday.
Karish gas platform, photo: AFP
Desalination plants are disconnected and the shark malfunction
The state-owned Noga company, which manages the electricity system, said on Friday that what caused the electricity shortage was the extreme heat combined with "a gradual decline in electricity production from renewable energies as the sun goes down and power plant malfunctions due to heat load."
However, information obtained by Israel Hayom indicates that another incident that took place on Friday afternoon was the malfunction of the Karish rig, which malfunctioned and only returned to work at 7 p.m. The power plants that work on natural gas know how to switch to diesel electricity production when necessary, but the question is whether this is also what happened on Friday – and what is certain is that the malfunction did not add to the peace of mind in the energy sector last Friday.
, a state of emergency at the Israel Electric Corporation. Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Energean said in response: "In the afternoon there was a malfunction in the supply for several hours, as may happen in any production facility. The fault was fixed and gas production resumed." In addition, Israel Hayom has learned that the national water companies Mekorot have been forced to shut down three out of five desalination plants that "guzzle" electricity for a few hours in order to save electricity.
Mekorot operated a water supply from the National Water Carrier's drillings so that there would be no shortage of water, and fortunately the incident passed peacefully, at least in this sector, and there were no disruptions in the water
supply Mekorot said regarding the incident that "the heavy heat load, the shutdown of some of the desalination plants and the limitations of electricity transmission require Mekorot to operate under an exceptional regime, in order to ensure the ongoing supply of water throughout the country. The national system knows how to provide solutions even for extreme scenarios, as a result of proper planning and the use of advanced technology."
So who is to blame for the omission?
On Friday, Noga and the electric company waged a battle of mutual accusations over who was not prepared for the event, but in fact it was a much more significant event that only by luck did not end with a water shortage in showers and millions of households cut off. The real responsibility for this event lies with the various governments, which delay in approving the construction of new power plants and do not plan for the energy sector for the long term.
Chen Herzog, Chief Economist of BDO Consulting, Photo: Nati Hadad
We will explain. The timetable for building power stations in Israel is 7-10 years, so in fact, the electricity shortage is the result of an ongoing failure over the past decade.
Chen Herzog, chief economist of BDO and an advisor to energy companies, explains in a conversation with Israel Hayom: "The bottom line is that the electricity shortage is the result of failed government policy. The business sector has the ability to build power plants, and the financial sector knows how to finance the construction of power plants even without a government budget. Israel is blessed with natural gas reserves," he says. "There is a series of failures here: the last development plan for the electricity sector, approved by the government in 2018, was based on estimates of a 'reserve surplus' due to the use of unrealistic demand forecasts."
"Already in 2017, on the eve of the approval of the electricity development plan, we warned that without increased investments, a shortage of electricity is expected in 2023," Herzog says, presenting an article in the newspaper "Globes" that warns of exactly this. "The citizens of Israel are paying a heavy price due to the underdevelopment of the electricity sector in Israel, both in the price of electricity due to the need to use expensive and polluting fuels and in power outages."
Rotenberg power station in Ashkelon, photo: Liron Moldovan
"Today's electricity shortage is a warning call to the government of the heavy economic cost resulting from underinvestment in the energy sector," he concludes. "According to estimates by the system management company, seven to eight large power plants should be built in the coming decade, in addition to 14,000 megawatts of renewable energy production. The failure is that the Israeli government is delaying in promoting the construction of the required power plants. While it is necessary to build at least seven power plants in the next decade, this week the government approved the promotion of only two power plants. In addition, the development plan for the electricity sector has been stuck in government ministries for almost two years awaiting approval, and underdevelopment of the electricity grid is delaying the advancement of renewable energies."
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