Hapoalim provides $1.5 billion to Dalia Energy for a new power plant

Dalia Energy, an Israeli company, announced on Thursday that it had signed a loan agreement with Bank Hapoalim for 5.3 billion Shekels ($1.5billion) to fund the construction of a brand new power plant.

The deal, which is non-binding, is intended to fund the construction of a new power plant with a capacity of up to 850 megawatts at the site of Ashdod's current Eshol Power Station.

The plant will be paid 0.065 Shekel per kilowatt-hour for the first 20 years of its operation.

Dalia bought the Eshkol Power Plant in Ashdod, from Israel Electric Corp., last year as part of structural reform. The plant uses two gas turbines, four steam units and natural gas to generate electricity.

The new plant is named "Avshal", in honor of Avshalom, Haran's 65th birthday. He was a founding director at Dalia and was murdered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 during an attack against Israel.

The construction of Avshal will take place in parallel with "Dalia 2", a power plant which will also have 850 megawatts of capacity.

Dalia's chief executive Oved Debi said: "Dalia will strengthen its position as a major electricity producer in Israel with the Avshal plant. It will also provide a solution to the increasing energy needs in Israel, while expanding the competition within the electricity sector.

To encourage more funding in the sector, he said that the state should promote regulations "that allow certainty about the ability to pay back the debt along with a fair and proper return for the owner... and free up the bottlenecks in the supply in the economy of stations."

Itamar furman, the head of Hapoalim corporate banking, stated that the bank aims to finance major infrastructure projects which will result in a "greener tomorrow and increased competition on the electricity market".

He said: "This is an important step towards energy independence, and environmental sustainability."

(source: Reuters)