How solar energy is making settlers in the West Bank even more powerful

Plans for 22 solar power plants in the settlements would make them a central supplier of power to Israel and the Palestinians — and increase the country’s dependence on them.

Solar electricity is booming in Israel’s West Bank settlements, even as bureaucratic hurdles stall efforts to expand solar within the country.
The Civil Administration, Israel’s administrative body in the West Bank, is  moving forward with plans for 22 solar power plants in the West Bank. One plan calls for creating a plant in the Jordan Valley with greater power generation than any of the existing solar plants in Israel.
Implementing the plans would make solar power a major economic industry in the settlements and increase the country’s dependence on them.
Some major beneficiaries would be the settlements in the Jordan Valley, where the most extensive facility is scheduled to be built. According to the plan for that facility, approved about two weeks ago, it will be built on agricultural land held by the settlement of Na’amah along with another 12 settlements and cover an area of about 325 hectares.
The facility would presumably increase the country’s dependence on the infrastructure installed in the settlements.

Electricity in mainly produced outside the settlements and transmitted to them. The plan would turn the settlements into a major electricity supplier to the entire country and the Palestinian residents of the area.
According to a Civil Administration source, the Palestinians won’t be able to decide that they don’t want to buy electricity generated in the settlements.

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How solar energy is making settlers in the West Bank even more powerful (Haaretz)  

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Photo: A solar farm in the settlement of Shadmot Mehola last week (Gil Eliahu, Haaretz)