The state will oblige contractors to allow for the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles in all new buildings in Israel, such as by running power cable sleeves through the walls of the parking lot and installing a separate meter board and suitably placed power sockets. The provision is contained in the draft Economic Arrangements Bill accompanying the 2020 budget. In an existing multi-occupancy building, an apartment owner will be able to install a charging point for his or her vehicle without having to obtain the consent of the other residents. In addition, any apartment owner in a multi-occupancy building will be able to install a four square-meter domestic solar energy system on the roof of the building on his own account, and it will be sufficient to obtain the consent of two thirds of the apartment owners in the building to cover the entire roof with solar panels. At present, all these actions require consent in advance from all the apartment owners in a building.
In the Economic Arrangement Bill, The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy will try to pass legislation designed to further the plan to raise the proportion of power generated from renewable sources in Israel to 30% by 2030, in accordance with the program presented last month by Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz.
In order to reach the goal set by Steinitz, solar energy systems will need to be installed with an aggregate output of 15,000 megawatts, and storage capacity of 3,000 megawatts will also be required for the supply of power at night and on cloudy days. Israel's installed capacity so far is 2,500 megawatts, with no substantial storage capacity. The main obstacles to meeting the 2030 target, apart from the storage problem, are the financial investment required (estimated at NIS 80 billion) and the need for extensive areas of land for the installations. The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy say that the plan can be implemented without harming designated open areas and without an increase in the cost of electricity.
In order to fulfill the plan in this way, government policy is focused on creating incentives for the installation of small solar systems on houses and larger buildings, and large systems on areas of land already in use in other ways, such as water reservoirs, car parking lots, waste disposal sites, sports fields, and areas trapped by interchanges.
The exemption from betterment levy for photo-voltaic installations, which was due to expire this year, will be extended to the end of 2025. The exemption will also be expanded to include solar systems with batteries. In addition, the installation of solar systems on the roofs of all government buildings will become obligatory, and the obligation may also be imposed on buildings owned by government supported organizations.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 28, 2020
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