Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) has completing the running of the new 260-megwatt production unit at the Eshkol Power Plant in Ashdod. The new plant will greatly boost IEC's production capacity, which has been struggling to meet peak demand in recent weeks. Just three weeks ago, IEC was forced to activate hundreds of small generators to meeting the record demand of 10,700 megawatts.
However, a check by "Globes" found that the new production unit, which cost an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars, cannot begin full production until March 2011, because work on the hook-up to the national natural gas pipeline has not even begun. IEC says that, for now, the new power plant will operate only during peak hours, using diesel. Diesel is a more expensive and polluting fuel than natural gas.
Facing a capacity shortage, IEC CEO Amos Lasker and other top executives yesterday praised the utility's employees for building the new power plant in record time.
IEC SVP and general manager Engineering Projects Group Yakov Hain said, "Construction and the coming on line within six months from the laying of the gas turbine on its foundations is an unprecedented achievement in IEC's history."
A pressure reducing & metering station (PRMS) is needed to connect the power plant to the natural gas pipeline, which will take at least eight months to build. Work on this unit has not even begun.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 19, 2010
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