For over a decade, Arava Power has been and remains a pioneer in the development of photo-voltaic fields in Israel. Throughout the years the company has established and operates fields with a total output of 120MW. These represent over 20% of the medium and large sized fields connected to Israel’s electric grid. Moreover, Arava Power operates and maintains a multitude of projects overseeing hundreds of megawatts and has purchased fifteen active photovoltaic facilities, yielding 17.5MW.
Arava Power Timeline
2007 – Establishment: The company is founded by the members of Kibbutz Ketura, led by Ed Hofland, David Rosenblatt and Yosef Abramowitz.
2009 – Investments: Siemens invests $15m for a 40% holding in the company. Keren Kayemet Le’Yisrael (KKL) makes its first for-profit investment and purchases 6% of the company.
2010 – The First Project: Construction of Israel’s first photovoltaic ground-based facility begins at Kibbutz Ketura, with capacity of 5MW.
2011 – Arava Power launches the first commercial solar field in Israel, in Kibbutz Ketura, Ketura Sun, with installed capacity of 4.95 MW.
2012 – A Leap Forward: Simultaneous completion of five mid-sized projects, with a total output of 35MW.
2013 – National Infrastructure Project: Construction of Ketura Solar begins, in conjunction with EDF at Kibbutz Ketura to supply up to 40MW at maximum capacity.
2014 – A New Investor: The Phoenix group buys Siemens’s share and provides capital for advanced R&D.
2015 – Acquisitions: Purchase of 15 active projects from Supergas, yielding 17.5MW, for NIS165m
2016 – Development: Renewal of activity in land project development in Israel; collaboration agreement signed with agricultural and farmland organization (Irgunei Hakibbutzim). A new company is formed: Arava Mishkei and Partners (AMP)
Vision and Future Prospect
“Arava Power” recognizes Israel’s solar potential. With an everlasting abundance of sunlight, we believe Solar Energy could become Israel’s primary power source. We have taken upon ourselves to lobby and promote this concept, so that by 2030 at least 40% of Israel’s power supply will be from renewable sources of energy. We believe in Solar Electricity and know for a fact that ecologically it significantly surpasses fossil fuel or wind turbine production. We continue to survey and implement new technologies to promote our facilities’ efficacy, making strategic investments and cooperating with worldwide leading providers.
The Building of a Land
“Arava Power”‘s outlook integrates Zionism with business . Not only are we obligated to our shareholders, but to another layer in our vision – we are committed to the settlers of Israel’s Southern and Northern regions, The Negev and Arava in particular. Our activity has led to large investments in Kibbutzim and Cooperative settlements (moshavim) in these regions which will also provide many additional workplaces –this is one of the core goals in our vision. “Arava Power”, with the cooperation of The Kibbutzim and the cooperative settlements, has set its ultimate goal – to become the leading producer of photovoltaic electricity in Israel.
For additional information and inquiries you are welcome to contact us at any time.
