The Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) has approved its first mid-sized solar energy facility license to Arava Power Company subsidiary Ketura Sun Ltd. For over a year, the company had a license for a 4.9-megawatt photovoltaic facility on an 80-dunam (20-acre) site at Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, and the license was upgraded to authorize a larger sized facility.
The Public Utilities Authority approved an update to the license under the new regulations it published in December 2009. Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau authorized a quota of 300 megawatts for electricity generation by mid-sized photovoltaic facilities of 50 kilowatts to 5 megawatts.
Arava Power CEO John Cohen told "Globes" that the company welcomed the Public Utilities Authority's professional handling of the license and thanked it for facilitating the vision of solar power in Israel.
Arava Power is in the advanced stages of securing financing with Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) for the Ketura facility, which will cost an estimated NIS 100 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 12, 2010
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