Dor Alon Energy in Israel (1988) Ltd. (TASE:DRAL) plans to build a 124-megawatt private power station at an estimated cost of $100 million in the Kiryat Gat area. The power plant will be built by joint venture Alon Gat Energy Centers LP, in which Dor Alon owns 55%.
The cogeneration power station will meet the electricity needs of the Sugat sugar factory, and will sell surplus electricity to other private consumers. The power station will reduce the use of more polluting fuels by the factory and other energy consumers in the Kiryat Gat industrial zone.
Alon Gat Energy Centers will hook up the Sugat factory to the national natural gas pipeline even before building the power station, and will convert the factory's current power supply to run on both natural gas and industrial oil. The new power station will have an initial capacity of 64 megawatts. Cogeneration power plants have important environmental advantages as they utilize the heat emitted by the electricity generators for other operational needs.
Dor Alon is a subsidiary of David Weissman's Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd.. Its partners in Alon Gat Energy Centers are Sigma Epsilon Power Engineering Ltd. and Massad Oz Energy Ltd. with 22.5% each. Sigma Epsilon also owns 25% of private power producer Dalia Power Energies Ltd.
Alon Gat Energy Centers CEO Amit Massad told "Globes", "This is only the first deal by the company. More natural gas-driven private electricity production deals are on the agenda, including large power stations."
At least three private power stations are due to come on line in Israel over the next few years, including stations by Dalia Power Energies, Dorad Energy and Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) unit OPC Rotem Ltd., held through IC Power Ltd. Massad believes that the private power market is only just getting underway, citing the paucity of private power stations currently operating in the country.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 9, 2012
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