How 'energy islands' could help Israel build resilience for wartime

Maale Gilboa, a remote kibbutz on a rocky hilltop in northern Israel, was an unlikely spot to build a farming community, let alone the future of Israel's energy supply.

However, its experience in adopting renewable energy and building energy storage solutions has put it at the forefront of Israel's ambition to create a more resilient and decentralized electricity grid that might better cope in times of war.

"We chose the toughest place to build, where others said 'no way,'" said Dovi Miller, who helped establish the kibbutz in the 1960s and now heads its energy operations.

His job is to make the kibbutz Israel's first "island of energy," a micro-grid that can isolate itself from the national power network if necessary and operate independently.

"We are building a system that allows our batteries to receive the electricity produced to continue to work if the grid fails. We will disconnect and become an energy island," Miller said.

Maale Gilboa's array of renewable energy sources, including wind turbines, solar panels, and a vast dome storing biogas, made it a natural choice for the pilot program.

Israel's energy transition plan has been in the works for years but took on greater urgency when war broke out on several fronts following deadly Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7.

That day, power lines were damaged, causing blackouts. Israel temporarily shut down its primary energy source, the offshore Tamar natural gas field.

Thousands of micro-grid projects are already running worldwide, including those in Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East, and Africa. They are in schools, hospitals, jails, and whole communities but often depend on public funding.

In 2022, the World Bank said solar microgrids could help half a billion people access power by 2030 but added that more action is needed to identify opportunities, drive down costs, and overcome barriers to finance.

Need to decentralize

Israel's micro-grid pilot, which will be completed in the next year or two, will run parallel to its collected stockpiles of diesel, coal, and generators.

The Energy Ministry's plan is a backup, not a replacement, to the significant plants that power the country using natural gas from offshore fields.

"In the event of thousands of rockets falling, it's clear there will be problems of blackouts," said Ron Eifer, head of the ministry's Sustainable Energy Division.

Most of the national grid is above ground and will be a likely target should fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon escalate into a broader conflict.

Eifer said Israel needs to decentralize electricity distribution to reduce the risks.

The goal is to create expanding circles, each with its own energy source and storage ability, starting from individual households and community emergency zones and extending to entire villages or city neighborhoods. It will begin with the rebuilding of damaged or destroyed communities along the borders of Gaza and Lebanon.

The ministry aims to have five gigawatts of renewable energy in the reconstructed area around Gaza by 2030, helping it reach a goal of generating 30% of power from renewables by that time. By the end of 2023, about 13% of the country's energy needs will come from renewables.

Most micro-grids will use solar energy from rooftop or land-based fields, which can be stored in batteries at night. The extra power generated can be sold to the national grid. If a solar field is hit, it may lose some panels but can continue to develop, Eifer said.

Eifer said the government is waiving the need for permits and subsidizing installations.

A market is already growing around the push for standalone storage facilities and solar fields.

Israel will begin allowing companies other than state-owned Israel Electric Corp (IEC) to supply household electricity this month. Telecom groups like Bezeq BEZQ.TA and Cellcom CEL.TA intends to compete with IEC, and industry officials say that standalone installations will be a natural source for them to use.

With the reform, the energy ministry expects about 12 billion shekels ($3.3 billion) to flow into the private sector.

Energy conglomerate Delek Group DLEKG.TA announced on Tuesday it was joining a venture to build 500 megawatts of dual-purpose solar energy fields on farmland, similar to those used by kibbutz Maale Gilboa.

Amit Mor, CEO of Eco Energy Financial & Strategic Consulting and a senior lecturer at Reichman University, said this shift to micro-grids likely would have occurred at some point, but only later.

"The war is a catalyst. There is a necessity for self-sustained energy because of strategic energy security, war, and environmental risks," Mor said. "Israel can serve as a model, as a microcosm for quick adaption of this technology for other countries facing similar challenges."