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The Houthis signaled to Israel - will we prepare in time to prevent the disaster

The transition to renewable energy has been linked for years to environmental issues and the climate crisis. However, today reality forces us to understand that renewable energy has an urgent and significant security importance

An oil tanker is moored at the wharf of an oil port. Illustration: depositphotos.com
An oil tanker is moored at the wharf of an oil port. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The black and toxic smoke that rose from the Sounion oil tanker  which was attacked by the Houthis The Red Sea could be seen from a distance of tens of kilometers. At almost the same time, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, tried to pass a resolution that would significantly reduce the powers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and allow KSA to massively increase the oil quotas it is allowed to transport through the Gulf of Eilat. The fact that this is the third attack on an oil tanker in the month of August alone and that since the outbreak of the war the Houthis have attacked no less than 80 ships in the Red Sea, did not affect the Prime Minister's intention to pass the decision during wartime. 

Possible consequences as a result of a case of damage to one of the links of the fossil fuel production chain (natural gas and oil, including the refining process) include scenarios of a multi-casualty event, the disconnection of entire areas and fatal damage to the basic infrastructures such as electricity and water supply. These are injuries that can take years to recover from and affect all areas of life. In view of the real threat to Israel's infrastructure, the transition to producing electricity from renewable energies (sun, wind and waves) is no longer an environmental issue, but a security need.

Tempting targets for harming the country

The actors in the fuel production process in Israel such as the gas rigs, the gas power plants, and the means of transportation and storage of the fuels including storage vessels, trucks and ships are large and tempting targets for harming the country. "The State of Israel must change its perception of security in everything related to energy production and supply immediately," says Galit Cohen, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and who served as director general of the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2021, when KTAA submitted the request to increase Oil transportation quotas, after the signing of the Abraham agreements. According to her, relying on fuels as a source of electricity production exposes Israel to immediate and serious dangers that could harm the country for years and even decide the current campaign. For example, damage to an oil tanker in the Gulf of Eilat could seriously damage the economy of the city of Eilat and its surroundings - which are based on tourism in the Gulf as a major source of income - and the destruction of the coral reef.

Also, "If a ship is damaged in Ashkelon, there is an immediate danger to the water desalination plants and the power plants. This means a fatal damage to the supply of water and electricity to the entire country and for a very long time," adds Cohen. A scenario of damage to the Mediterranean ports due to a large number of oil tankers could disable the fishing industry, for example. The shutdown of the sea will be felt throughout the country, whose economic, social and moral resilience is largely based on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. "The current energy production process of the State of Israel puts it under a huge security risk, so we need to think strategically about how to reduce the risk and manage it," explains Cohen. "If, as a result of a security incident, the gas rigs are closed, the State of Israel should have other capabilities for energy production within the country."

It is possible otherwise

The capabilities Cohen is referring to are based on renewable energy - mainly solar energy and energy storage in batteries. According to her, unlike in the past, today there is the ability to make this transition, and even quickly. "According to a test we did at the National Security Institute, we can provide 40 percent of the energy consumption of the State of Israel through renewable energy in the built-up area only, without harming the open areas," explains Cohen. "The meaning is that instead of depending on a fuel supply that is driven from a centralized place - which can be subject to attack - each building will have the ability to produce the energy needed by the tenants independently and without dependence on any factor, except the sun."

Promoting the development of energy storage in batteries in addition to solar production can help and even save the citizens in case of infrastructure damage. "Storing energy in batteries can provide a quality solution that works instead of generators or simultaneously with their operation". Even if in the first stage there will still be a need to connect to the electricity grid, then in case of an emergency the building will have the ability to meet the basic needs of the tenants, at the very least.

But precisely during this period, Netanyahu asked to increase the amount of oil that would arrive in oil tankers to the Gulf of Eilat, be transported through pipelines and leave for Europe at the Ashkelon terminal. During the first hearing of the request, back in 2021, Netanyahu was forced to accept the position of the Ministry of Environmental Protection to reject the request of Ketsa, but did not remove it from the agenda. In August, with questionable timing, he decided to try and move her again. A long struggle is going on around Katsa's request, in which many experts from Israel and the world, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the mayors of Eilat, Ashkelon and other cities are participating. "There is a terrible absurdity here, instead of reducing risks, Netanyahu wants to increase them without any national justification. Even those who support the idea of ​​increasing the number of ships, understand that in order to do this, the establishment of a huge and expensive security protection system is needed, like the one around the rigs at least, and even then no one can guarantee that there will be no harm, or an accident unrelated to the security aspect Inevitably," says Cohen.

Those who support the repeal

However, there are factors that support the proposal to increase the number of ships that transport the fuels. However, "even these parties understand that the establishment of a huge and expensive security protection system is needed, at least like the one around the rigs", explains Cohen, "and even then it will not be possible to guarantee that the system will not be damaged or that an accident unrelated to security will occur." The state has An excellent program for handling spillage faults at sea Like a leak from a fuel transport ship, but it lies in the drawers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection for years and is not promoted.

"On the one hand, they want to significantly increase the risk, and on the other hand, they are not prepared to provide a proper response in case something happens," says Cohen and warns: "Now that we are under threat, we need to reduce risks instead of increasing them, and we have the opportunity to do that. The government must push and promote a transition to renewable energy and battery storage, it must remove barriers and do everything necessary to make this happen as quickly as possible. We must take advantage of the war to make this leap quickly," she says.

The Prime Minister's request was also rejected this time and was finally removed from the agenda, thanks to the enormous pressure exerted by the mayors and the professionals together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. But the danger of increasing the transportation of oil has not yet been completely removed - according to the summary, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will be required to examine any request by Ktsa to increase the quotas within two months. "On the one hand, it's a great achievement that the proposal has been completely removed from the agenda," explains Cohen, "but there is still an opening for the KTA to try and increase the transportation quotas for oil and fuel, and these pressures are not going to get any easier."

Cohen also shows cautious optimism: "I'm glad there is a shift among the professional side, both in the electric company and Benga, and in the government." The challenge is that it takes a very long time for decisions to be made. "The coalition formed between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the mayors and organizations is critical for the future, and it is important to maintain and strengthen it," she concludes.

comments

No response was received from the Prime Minister's Office.

The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure responded:

Further to the claim raised in the question regarding the promotion of a decentralized energy economy, with an emphasis on the development of renewable energy - it should be noted that the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure promotes a stable, safe, decentralized and sustainable energy economy. The State of Israel has a diverse and distributed energy mix and electricity production is based on many different sources such as natural gas, renewable energies and coal and other backup fuels.

The office works tirelessly to ensure a regular, reliable and safe supply of energy both in routine and in emergencies.

Among other things, the ministry is promoting many steps to meet the goal of 30% electricity production from renewable energies by 2030, with an emphasis on distributed production of solar energy and storage.

It should be emphasized that since October 7, the ministry has promoted a long series of unprecedented measures to encourage a transition to renewable energy and dual-use storage. Thus, among other things, the National Council approved groundbreaking regulations initiated by the Ministry that require every detached house and every non-residential building to install renewable energy on the roof, approved exemptions from construction permits for small storage facilities, approved permits for solar roofs and solar fences, and more.  

At the same time, the ministry works in close cooperation with the local government to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, including in recent years supporting projects in the scope of hundreds of millions of shekels. In addition, an option was added to connect another 2,500 megawatts of renewable energy and over 2,000 megawatts of storage to the electricity grid, first in the agro-voltaic field, and more.

Moreover, since the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, a significant number of large and significant renewable energy facilities have been connected that increase the decentralization and diversification of the Israeli energy economy, and an additional number of ground-based solar projects with the scope of many hundreds of megawatts have been launched. In addition, a tender was published for a very large storage in the upper voltage which is expected to place Israel as one of the leading countries in the world in the field of storage.

Simultaneously with the acceleration of the deployment of renewable energies, the Ministry is working on comprehensive headquarters work in cooperation with the Electricity Authority, in order to determine the national goals for the use of renewable energies for the years 2035, 2040 and 2050. This, in order to formulate an up-to-date government policy in order to meet the long-term goals and to create certainty for the market in the field.

In any case, the position of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure regarding the issue of the fuel port in Eilat is that the functional continuity of the fuel economy should be allowed both in routine and in emergencies, while ensuring adequate environmental protection.

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