SUPERGAS SETS UP MICROGRID FOR ORBOND MANUFACTURING PLANT IN ALON TAVOR

The Supergas microgrid will produce electricity from a solar source, charge the energy storage installation, and release stored energy during peak tariff hours  .   Supergas receives a NIS. 1.3 m setup grant after winning the Ministry of Energy and the Chief Scientist’s proposal publication

Kfir Navon, CEO, Supergas.   Photograph: Tomer Yakovson

Supergas, owned by Elco (62%), was awarded a grant of NIS. 1.3 million through the tender published by the Ministry of Energy and the Office of the Chief Scientist for a project to establish a microgrid enabling Orbond’s manufacturing plant in the Alon Hatavor Industrial Zone to produce self-use electricity. The plant will store and utilize the energy, and its sole connection to the electrical network will be for backup purposes.

The grant was awarded to Supergas after it won the call for proposals published by the Ministry of Energy and the Chief Scientist on developing storage technologies and establishing demonstration installations in Israel. The system which Supergas will set up for Orbond will include a solar installation to produce electricity for self needs, a cogeneration system to produce electricity and thermal energy, and an energy storage system using lithium-ion batteries. The microgrid will enable the solar and cogeneration installations to charge the storage batteries during the production period when the sun is shining, and release the electricity for self use during peak tariff periods, resulting in a saving on energy costs.

This project integrates with the various steps being adopted by the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Authority as part of the electricity sector’s reforms, which include the Electricity Authority’s recent decision to allow land owners to charge, distribute and supply electricity to all consumers in the land division. The project is slated for completion by the end of 2022.

Orbond is among clients in which Supergas has for the past few years installed and operated energy systems including a system for absorbing and supplying natural gas and CNG (compressed natural gas), a cogeneration installation for producing electricity and thermal energy, and a system for efficient energy storage based on compressed air. According to the plans, a photovoltaic system will also be added in the near future, to be installed on the manufacturing plant’s roof and having a 1.5 megawatt supply, together with an energy storage system based on lithium-ion batteries having a 1 mW per hour supply. Taken together, the systems will provide most of the plant’s electricity needs. Any additional requirements will be supplied to the client by Supergas in the framework of the electricity provider license it received in July 2021.

Amit Pergament, VP of Business Development at Supergas Energy, noted that the microgrid will enable the client to purchase electricity produced on its own campus through a long term contract with Supergas, enabling significant reductions in the client’s usage from the electricity network, which in turn promotes significant savings in energy costs.

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