Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) is moving forward on plans to build a private natural gas-driven power station at its Teva Tech plant at Ramat Hovav in the Negev. The cost of a power plant of the size the company wants to build is $60-70 million.
The power station will meet the factory's needs and Teva can sell the surplus to Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22). The Southern Regional Planning and Building Commission told Teva to submit an environmental impact statement for the power station. Teva Tech informed the commission that the cogeneration type power station would generate 45 megawatts, and would use diesel or fuel oil as back-ups. Teva Tech uses 20-25 megawatts of electricity; the surplus will be sold to the national grid.
Teva declined to respond to a "Globes" query on the matter.
The Teva Tech power station would be the second private power station at Ramat Hovav; the other is a 120-megawatt natural gas power station owned by Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. (TASE: MAIN), which cost $200 million to build.
The Israel Land Authority and the Ramat Hovav Industrial Local Council are in the early planning stages to build a 400-megawatt power plant on 15 acres of public land at a cost of $500 million. The plan still needs approval of the National Planning and Building Commission and the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity), and a feasibility study by IEC. The Ramat Hovav Council is also planning a 30-megawatt photovoltaic solar power farm on the 485-dunam (121.25-acre) site of the old collection ponds, and plans to publish a tender by the end of the year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 15, 2011
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