Generation Capital advances fifth gas-fired power plant in the Emek Hefer area
PowerGen, a company owned by the Israeli investment fund Generation Capital, is promoting a plan to build a gas-fired power plant on the grounds of Baka al-Gharbiya, east of Hadera. This is the fifth plan to establish a power plant in the Emek Hefer area and the Menashe Regional Council. The distance between the power plants in the early planning stages is just a few kilometers, fueling a determined struggle by Emek Hefer residents and the council leadership.
The proposal to authorize PowerGen to plan a gas-fired power plant is expected to be posted soon on the government website, where it will be approved under an expedited procedure without discussion. According to the draft decision, if no objections are submitted, it will be approved and the company will be authorized to advance a plan for building the plant. Advancing the planning does not guarantee that the company will be able to build the power station. A government decision from October 2024 was intended to create competition among private developers so that a reserve of approved power plant plans would be created, from which only some companies are expected to receive approval according to the considerations of the Planning Administration, the Electricity Authority and the state-owned Noga, which manages the electricity sector.
Under that 2024 decision, the private sector will be given authority to plan 19 power plants in the area between Gedera and Hadera. The final target is the construction of 13 plants by 2040, on the understanding that some will fall away during the lengthy and complex planning process. This has opened a race among energy companies to reach the finish line and secure revenue of hundreds of millions of shekels a year. Since then, a flood of plans has been promoted in the same narrow strip between Route 6 and the Mediterranean coast, five plans in all, all in or adjacent to the Emek Hefer Regional Council.
The plan PowerGen wants to advance will be planned on the site of the Baka al-Gharbiya wastewater treatment plant, southwest of the Baka interchange at the junction of Route 6 and Route 9. Just one kilometer south of there, south of Kibbutz Lahavot Haviva in the Menashe Regional Council on the border of Emek Hefer, another plan is being promoted by a company owned by Jackie Ben-Zaken and Tzahi Abu. Nine kilometers to the west, there is an attempt to build a power plant in Kibbutz Givat Haim Ihud by OPC, controlled by Idan Ofer, and indirectly also by Delek Automotive Systems, controlled by Gil Agmon, which holds 20% of its shares.
At the beginning, there was an effort to advance the planning of the plant on land shared by Givat Haim Ihud and Givat Haim Meuhad, but most of the members of Meuhad voted against the plan. In Givat Haim Ihud, it has not yet been decided whether to continue with the project or withdraw from it, and a vote is expected next week. In addition, about two kilometers west of those kibbutzim, in the Emek Hefer industrial zone, Israel’s largest desalination plant will be built, with the potential to become the largest in the world. The facility will be served by a private gas-fired power plant with a capacity of 300 megawatts.
That is not all. A few kilometers south of the desalination plant, Shamir Energy, controlled by Meir Shamir, is promoting another power plant on the land of Moshav Beit Yanai. The government is aware of the excess planning in this narrow area and added an objection to the draft decision. It states that, “In light of the large number of requests to authorize entities to prepare plans for power plants in this area... if it deems fit, the National Infrastructure Committee will decide which of the plans are the most suitable for further advancement in this area, subject to the scope required in the region in accordance with Decision 2282 (the government decision from October 2024).”
