On the way to cleaner air: After years of public struggle, today (Wednesday) the electric company announces that the power plant in Ashkelon will gradually switch from coal to natural gas.
The company’s announcement stated that the electric company is in the midst of an innovative and unique process to convert its production units from coal to natural gas, which incorporates advanced technologies in the old coal-fired production units. This is a complex project that requires the purchase of knowledge and special systems from a supplier abroad and the laying of an additional natural gas pipeline to the Rotenberg power plants in Ashkelon and to Aoroth Rabin in Hadera.
The natural gas conversion project started with unit number 1 at the Rotenberg power plant. This is a conversion, the first of its kind, of a coal-fired unit that switches to working with natural gas. The conversion also requires a change in the working methods that until now have been suitable for the coal era and are not suitable for working with natural gas. For example, it was necessary to adapt the natural gas burners to the existing combustion system, changes in the control systems, adjusting the air systems, adding pipes and valves, purchasing dedicated equipment, adapting existing equipment and devices and changing work procedures in the field of safety.
The date of putting the units into operation was postponed in relation to the original schedule, mainly due to the corona epidemic that affected the entire economy in Israel and the world, the management of a legal proceeding that delayed the receipt of the permit to lay a low-pressure natural gas pipeline, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war that significantly affected the availability of the supply chain for the main equipment, and , many inconsistencies in the equipment that has already arrived from the supplier.
As the government stated in July 2018, when the reform in the electricity sector was adopted, it was decided that the coal-fired units 1-4 at Orot Rabin would remain as a backup only, in case of emergency.
As mentioned, the electric company is doing everything possible to promote the project so that unit 1 in Rotenberg is expected to be operated for the first time with natural gas during the second quarter of this year. In addition, in an unprecedented step, the company’s board of directors decided ad hoc, to approve the conversion of the rest of the units, even before receiving approval from the regulators, in order to meet the goal of the government’s decision that at the end of 2025, the electric company will produce electricity with natural gas only.
Meir Spiegler, CEO of the Electric Company: “At the beginning of the 21st century, the Electric Company led the revolution in the production of electricity using gas instead of coal in order to improve the quality of life and the environment. Our commitment to ending the Merkava deed leads to the acceleration of the conversion works in the remaining production units that still consume coal, with the intention of being completed in 2025. At the same time, we dealt with a dramatic reduction of the emissions from the use of coal by installing world-class advanced exhausters in those stations that have not yet been converted to work with natural gas. This is a complex project managed and supervised by the engineers of the Electric Company and its professional employees who are familiar with the material and have valuable accumulated experience.’
Ashkelon – the daily website of Ashkelon on the Internet