Ten Israeli and foreign companies attended Friday's presentation by the Ministry of Finance for the photovoltaic power plant at Ashelim.
The Israeli participants included Minrav Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MNRV), Supergas Ltd., Clal Energy Ltd., Shikun u'Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN), and Paz Solar Ltd.
Foreign participants included Germany's Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; XETRA: SIE), and France's EDF SA (Euronext: EDF).
The Ashelim photovoltaic power plant is a NIS 450 million BOT (build, operate, transfer) project for a 30-megawatt plant, which will be built alongside two 110-megawatt thermosolar power plants. The estimated cost of the thermosolar plants is $1.5 billion.
The government published the tenders for the thermosolar plants two months ago, and so far only three consortia have submitted bids, after the consortium of Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT) and Germany's Solar Millennium AG (XETRA: S2M) dismantled their partnership.
The Ministry of Finance therefore believes that the photovoltaic power station tender will move forward more smoothly and quickly. At the presentation, tenders committee chairman Deputy Accountant General Gil Shabtai said that the deadline for submitting bids will be in the first quarter of 2011.
The Ashelim solar power project is Israel's largest solar energy tender, and one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 31, 2010
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