2024-07-10 08:18:05
Respiratory diseases, black clothes and dust on the floors: residents of the Haftziva neighborhood in Hadera, close to the Oot Rabin coal-fired power plant, testified at a hearing of the Committee to Oversee the Israel Citizens’ Wealth Fund in the Knesset about serious damages from air pollution. According to them, recently an elderly citizen died in one of the houses near the station with an oxygen cylinder from respiratory difficulties. “I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel here,” said Haim Mavari, chairman of the neighborhood committee, “I’m suffering from coal. When my kids come, it’s incredible. Many of us have already died.”
According to the Chief Executive of the Sharon Carmel Association of Cities for the Environment, Nir Sahar: “The emission of pollutants in the Hadera area is among the highest in the country. 50 people die a year due to pollution.” According to Sahara, who also held the discussion, the union’s professionals recommended the installation of facilities that would remove coal particles from the air.
The use of coal is more polluting and more expensive, and therefore Israel has adopted a policy of gradual transition to the use of gas. However, Israel still relies heavily on the use of coal to meet the demand for electricity, so it is increasing its use due to energy shortages.
The Orot Rabin light station is considered the single most polluting facility in Israel, as it includes four outdated and inefficient coal-using units, and two slightly newer coal-fired units, which include pollution abatement facilities. In January of this year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection promised to stop coal emissions from the station by the end of 2025, however, in the previous discussion on the matter, it was decided to postpone this date by six months.
There will be three steps to phase out the use of coal in the station: First, the commissioning of a new gas unit, Mezham 70, which will replace units 1 and 2. This unit already exists, and all that remains is to submit. regular operation After that, the construction and operation of Mezham 80, which will also work on gas, will be completed and units 3 and 4 will be replaced. After this phase, the two newer units, MD5 and MD6, will be switched to gas use. In the original planning, the transition was supposed to be completed by the end of 2025, and is currently planned for mid-2026.
In the budget department, the Ministries of environment and energy disagreed. Towards the end of the committee’s discussion, the representative of the budget department Mai Alon referred to the dates set by the participants in the committee, including the chairman Limor Son Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit), and said that it is more realistic that is the process. completed in 2028. “We are talking about 2026, is there something we do not know? Mac Har Melech asked her, and Alon replied that the processes in question will probably not happen in these times, among other things else because there is already a long delay.
Alon added that even after the conversion, the stations will be relatively polluting and with relatively low efficiency, and to increase the number of such polluting stations, it is necessary to establish more modern and sophisticated power stations. When Son Har Melech pointed the finger at the gas producers, who, according to her, are not promoting such stations, Speaker Alon confronted her with the government’s decision to postpone the construction of two more power stations for the time being.
Even when the units go off grid, they will be put into conservation mode. In this case, they will only be available to the network manager after a notice of about 20 days from the moment they are decided to be used, and in any case, they will be activated for a few days every quarter, with reduced power and pollution. maintain their effectiveness. The main reason for the preservation of the coal plants is preparedness for a war or other energy emergency, among other things because the gas rigs will be closed in the event of a war with Hezbollah to prevent the explosion of all the gas. reservoir.
“Someone will have to calculate what is worth more”
“Without the coal units, it will be difficult for us to provide energy security,” explained Shimon Fisher, Deputy General Manager of the Nega Electricity System Management Company and its Chief Operating Officer “Between 2022 and 2023 we reduced the use of coal by 9% without new units set up, except with smart management and attention to the matter. But in the end, it does not make sense to prepare for an emergency situation. We will be happy with other solutions it’s on the table, and he wouldn’t be responsible for giving it up.” Fischer addressed the question of why no filters were installed in units 1-4 that greatly reduce pollution, as they were installed in units 5 and 6. “There are some calculations here. If these units end up operating about ten days a year, will we need culverts? Is it worth millions? Someone will have to calculate it.”
Yoni Sapir, chairman of the Home Guard Association, said a national emergency plan is needed. “It is impossible to claim that Israel’s energy security will depend on four coal units from the 1980s. The focus will be on the wrong things instead of looking at where the world is going and what the real places are for energy security. We need a legislative change that will allow the funds of the fund to go to a huge change in the electricity sector, a huge change in relation to renewable energy, to produce storage, more micro-grids.” Sapir also called for legislative change to allow more. institutions, such as campuses, hospitals, kibbutzim, etc., have for independent energy microgrids In the United States, President Joe Biden launched a similar reform last year.
“The committee has a place to enrich the eyes of the government,” said Sapir. “There is a great place here for the funds of the fund and its results. There is no need to plan for wealth fund funds today to help electricity infrastructure projects. In general, it is government policy to keep the funds of the fund away from use. widespread.
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