Israel to hold tender for solar energy plants

Israel will publish a tender at the end of February to build two solar power plants in the southern Negev desert, the National Infrastructure Ministry said on Sunday. Several international companies have expressed interest in participating in the tender, in which two bidders will be awarded contracts on a build, operate and transfer basis, the ministry said.
The two solar energy plants will supply 250 megawatts of electricity, equal to 3 percent of Israel's electricity consumption. The ministry is also planning to advance projects to produce electricity from small solar boards placed on housing rooftops as well as from small windmills.
"According to the progress of projects until now, we will be able to meet our target of producing 600 megawatts of electricity from renewable energies by 2011-2012," National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said in a statement. This will include 300 megawatts from solar energy and 300 from wind power, he said.