The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has warned of an electricity shortage at peak times during the winter and summer. The IEC board of directors auditing committee discussed the problem at its last meeting. IEC head of planning, development and technology Dr. David Elmakis warned at the meeting that unless a power reserve was arranged in the production system, the stability and reliability of the production, conduction, and transformer system was at serious risk.
Elmakis noted that the IEC electricity reserves for its system were only 3%, compared with 15-20% in Western countries.
IEC heads stated in the discussion that the company had to expedite its development plans, and the construction of electricity generating stations.
IEC president and CEO Jacob Razon said that the introduction of natural gas in the near future would not eliminate the IEC’s need to continue developing coal-fired plants. He added that the natural gas product units could also use other fuels, and crude oil or diesel could be used in case of a natural gas shortage.
Elmakis also stated that reserves should be increased, because a further rise in demand is projected. He stated that the lack of production capacity and the delay in the introduction of natural gas plants were liable to affect the IEC’s ability to provide a reasonable reliable supply of power.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 2, 2004