Israel opened its first year-round solar energy plant on the Dead Sea yesterday. But advocates of nuclear power urged today that the country move in that direction as well because of the soaring price of oil.
Moshe Arens, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, warned at a meeting at the Haifa Technion that time was running out for Israel to prepare the infrastructure and assemble the resources to build a nuclear power plant. Israel has the scientific know-how to build such a plant, he said. He noted that by next year Israel will probably be paying Egypt $40 per barrel for Sinai oil, almost double the present price and still will not be able to fill all of its energy needs.
Prof. Shimon Iftah, president of the Israel Nuclear Science Society, observed that it was paradoxical that oil-rich countries such as Libya and Iraq have built nuclear power plants while Israel has put a freeze on such projects.
But solar energy was the immediate focus of attention. The 150 kilowat plant at Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea was opened officially at ceremonies attended by Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai. It is a pilot plant with a limited output. But if the new technique on which it is based proves successful, a five megawatt power station will be built on the same site by late 1981 or early 1982 to be followed by a 20 megawatt plant.
Energy Ministry officials expressed confidence that the Dead Sea, where the sun shines almost continuously, can be made into a giant solar pond producing 2000 megawatts of electricity by the end of the century. This would amount to about 80 percent of Israel’s present production.
The technology employed was developed in Israel. According to experts, it can be applied anywhere in the world where water, sun and salt are available and would generate power at a price competitive with fossil fuel or nuclear energy. The company operating the new plant is studying the possibility of constructing a similar solar pond electric station in California.
Modai said he hoped solar energy would solve Israel’s energy problems. But time is of the essence, he said. He predicted that Israel will have to pay $2 billion for oil in 1980.
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