Monday, January 30, 2012
Breaking Out
From its very birth, Israel was isolated like an island in the ocean of the Arab world. Gradually we are breaking out and connecting to the world. After trying desperately to connect to the Egyptian electricity network, and failing, we are now going to be connected to the European electricity grid. The cable will be 270 km. long and provide an energy connection between Israel and Cyprus, 2,000 meters below sea level. Electricity will be able to flow in both directions at a capacity of up to 2,000 megawatts. Another cable will connect Cyprus and Crete, which is part of the Greek electricity grid. Therefore, Israel will effectively be connected to the European electricity grid.
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7 comments:
What's the current installed nameplate capacity in Israel? In other words, what fraction of the current capacity is that 2 gigawatts? I think two gigawatts is about two light water reactors.
Does that cable go through the Christan Greek part of Cyprus in the south, or the Islamic Turk part in the north?
Those Euros love solar power, maybe Israel can export some.
Yes Europeans seem to love paying for their electricity through their tax system. I guess that makes it look like you're getting something for nothing.
We have good relationship with the Greek (European) part of Cyprus.
How much will this cost and who is paying for it? Is this cost economically justifiable? Wouldn't it make more sense to spend that money on local generating capacity instead? Such a cable might be cut in time of war or for political reasons.
Usually such cables make sense if you have some source of power that is locally underutilized - for example much of the power for New York City is shipped from hydroelectric dams in northern Quebec where no one lives. Or in the American West there are large coal fired plants near the coal mines and they ship the power to the California cities. I don't recall that Europe has any similar underutilized sources.
K
Wouldn't it make more sense to spend that money on local generating capacity instead?
Two words: Green Lobby.
Israel has gas. We shall export electricity to Europe. Remember that Europe has shot itself in the foot with unreliable wind parks and photovoltaic plants where the aurora borealis shines. Germany, the Green, is closing down its nuclear power plants.
Who would believed it? Israel exporting water, electricity, advanced weapons, hi-tech companies.
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