Israel sets feed-in tariff for wind power

The Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) has announced the details of a feed-in tariff for small wind turbines, similar to the solar photovoltaic feed-in tariff established in 2008. Consumers will now be able to generate their own electricity using wind turbines and sell the surplus back to the national grid.

The maximum output of a domestic wind turbine will be set at 15 kilowatts, and the maximum output of a commercial and industrial user's wind turbines will be set at 50 kilowatts.

The Public Utilities Authority has established two rates for wind-generated electricity: NIS 1.60 per kilowatt/hour for small turbines up to 10 kilowatts of output, and NIS 1.25 per kilowatt/hour for small turbines of 10-50 kilowatts of output. These rates will be reduced by 2% a year.

The Public Utilities Authority set two rates for wind-generated electricity: NIS 1.60 (~$0.40) per kilowatt/hour for small turbines up to 10 kilowatts of output, and NIS 1.25 (~$0.30) per kilowatt/hour for small turbines of 10-50 kilowatts of output. These rates will be reduced by 2% a year. The total quota is 30 megawatts through 2016.

By comparison, the solar PV feed-in tariff is NIS 2.01 per kilowatt/hour with a quota of 50 megawatts through 2015.

This is good news for companies like SOVNA (formerly ALT E), which is currently setting up "urban wind farms" in Tel Aviv. It may also provide a domestic market for innovative small wind turbine companies such as Technospin, Coriolis Wind, Leviathan Energy, and Variable Wind Solutions.

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Precede Technologies, "The Cleantech Start-up Nursery"

Precede Technologies, an "entrepreneurship and investment firm which teams up with scientists and inventors to establish well-funded start-up companies", is the focus of an interesting feature article in "Globes".

Precede's partners, Orni Petruschka, Dr. Rafi Gidron, Nimrod Goor and Albert Olier, discuss Precede's origins, its investment strategy and focus on cleantech, and the firm's future plans.

The firm was founded in 2005 with the goal of bridging the gap between academe and industry, something observers have pointed to as a weakness in Israel's cleantech cluster. It is backed by Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners and can provide up to $1 million in seed funding.

Precede Technologies' portfolio currently consists of three companies: Pythagoras Solar, Coriolis Wind, and SolarPower. In February of 2008, Pythagoras received a $10 million second round of funding from Pitango, Evergreen, and Israel Cleantech Ventures.

ALT E to develop urban wind farms in Israel

ALT E, a startup developing and installing "urban wind farms", was recently featured in Ha'aretz.

According to the company's founders, architect Erez Ella and economist Guy Shahar, ALT E will soon install an experimental rooftop wind turbine project in an undisclosed Tel Aviv high rise building. The company is reportedly in contact with several Israeli real estate developers and also hopes to export the idea to other countries.

"We take something that in any case the developer has to build, which is the roof floor, where there is a fence or wall that is used among other things to conceal machinery and also as a safety measure," explains Shahar. "Instead of building a regular wall, he can created a kind of wall of turbines, and also save money by reducing spending on electricity in the building."

"This is primarily for buildings that are 20 stories or higher and have good wind conditions," says Ella. "The use of wind will be only one component of a variety of alternative solutions that will also include the use of solar energy."

Other Israeli companies in the rooftop wind market include Coriolis Wind, a portfolio company of Precede Technologies, and TechnoSpin Wind, which recently raised $8 million in a Series A financing round led by NY-based 21 Ventures.

For more information on the global "small wind" power market, check out this series of articles from Greentech Media.

Related content: TechnoSpin Wind raises $8m from 21 Ventures

IAI to enter wind and solar power sectors

Sources inform ''Globes'' that the board of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) has approved the company's entry into the wind and solar energy sectors. The company plans to exploit its turbine technology, wind tunnels, and aerodynamics engineering know-how to improve the turbines now on the market.

One of the most important facilities of IAI's engineering division is its wind tunnel, used to test models of planes and the operation of high-powered engines. The results of the aerodynamic tests of the models are then compared with the flight tests. The facility and know-how will now be used for renewable energy projects.

Israeli companies already active in the wind power sector include Elspec, IQWind, and Coriolis Wind.