Power cable rules eased to boost solar energy projects

The procedure for moving high-tension lines will be made simpler, which will make it easier to construct solar installations where land is cheap.

Last week, the National Planning and Building Council announced a significant relaxation in changes to high-tension cables (161-volt) that were a considerable obstacle to the construction of cheap solar energy installations and a switch to renewable energy sources. The Planning Administration says that full-length plans need no longer be submitted. Instead, the regulatory requirements will be reduced, and the relevant committee will be the National Infrastructures Committee or a special sub-committee of the Regional Planning and Building Committee, at the choice of the Israel Electric Corporation, which is responsible for building infrastructures.

Despite the steep rise in demand for electricity and the fall in the cost of constructing solar installations, Israel’s transition to renewable energy sources is being delayed. A report by the Electricity Authority sates that "the capacity of the electricity grid is one of the critical factors in setting a target for renewable energy, and perhaps the most critical of all." This is a significant statement, since the Electricity Authority also points to widespread delays in construction of the grid to reach the required capacity. Today, this is the worst bottleneck for power production from renewable sources. A prominent solar energy developer who spoke to "Globes" earlier this year said, "There are two main obstacles to expansion of solar capacity in Israel: land, and the electricity grid. With land, there are solutions such as dual use, but for the grid we need much more dramatic investment in infrastructure. As developers, we can speed things up, and we are capable of running much faster than the grid. Whatever free capacity there is on the grid, we are able to fill it."

Now, the Planning Administration is taking an important step towards removing obstacles in this area. The 161-volt high tension cables are the second most important lines in the power grid, after the 400-volt lines that are known as the "electricity highway" and that represent a much heavier infrastructure project. Where 400-volt lines already exist, moving 161-volt lines can substantially accelerate construction of solar energy installations where land is cheap, and these lines can transport the power to areas of high demand in the center of the country.

The Planning Administration say that the new decision, which is now open for public comment (including from regulators in the regional planning committees), "will allow changes to the location and route of the lines without the need to draw up a plan," bypassing bureaucracy that up to now has delayed any change in the positioning of high-tension cables. The Planning Administration stresses that the public will still need to be given notice of any change, and "instructions for making changes have been set down, and they include consultation requirements, submission of the requisite documents, professional considerations in determining the route of the line, and guidelines for drawing up a landscape-environmental document." Nevertheless, this still represents significant expediting of the process in comparison with the current situation. A simpler procedure for moving existing lines could also save having to construct new lines and thereby free up resources for constructing new infrastructure elsewhere. In turn, this will enable solar power developers to construct new installations in areas that are attractive for that purpose.

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Planning Administration director Rafi Elmaliach said, "Strengthening the State of Israel’s energy infrastructure, with an emphasis on renewable energy, is a national mission which the Planning Administration is leading and which it puts at the top of its priorities. Development and expansion of the power grid is an essential condition for the economy’s continued growth, for strengthening Israel’s energy security, and for accelerating the transition to renewable energy. The more we succeed in removing obstacles and streamlining the upgrading of the transport grid, the faster we will be able to connect up solar projects and renewable energy infrastructures."

The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) is the entity responsible for the power grid, and it has submitted several proposals for increasing its authority in order to accelerate construction of infrastructure. Now IEC will be able to choose whether to apply to the National Infrastructures Committee or to a special sub-committee of the regional Planning and Building Committee for permission to move high-tension cables. This will give it some of the flexibility required to accelerate the construction of power infrastructure.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 19, 2026.

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