Fima Feinblum. Dimona factory entrepreneur
Photo: Tal Shahar
Yitzhak Tshuva. One of Tamar partners
Photo: Louise Green
Tamar to sell $500 million of gas to Dimona plant
Silicon factory to be built in Dimona signs letter of intent with Tamar and Dalit drilling partners by which drillers will sell natural gas to factory for 17 years to operate factory's private power station
A silicon factory in Dimona drafted a letter of intent with Delek Energy and Noble Energy, the partner companies drilling at the natural gas fields Tamar and Dalit, by which Dimona Silica Industries will sign a deal to purchase 2.8 BCM (billion cubic meters) of natural gas from the Tamar project.
The gas will be used by the factory to set up a private power station that will be called "South Power Station." According to the agreement, Tamar and Dalit will supply Silica with gas for 17 years.
The total monetary value of the deal is estimated to be about $500 billion with the option for expanding and extending the contract. In a statement issued by the companies to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Sunday morning it was noted that the said amount is only an estimated value and that "the real profits will be derived from a gamut of factors, including future energy prices."
The silicon factory, which is slated to be built in the Dimona industrial zone during this year, is designated to manufacture concentrated silicon as a raw material for the rubber, plastic, ceramic, metal, food, and paper industries. It will employ more than 1,000 employees.
The factory made headlines in the past for suspicions that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert illegally intervened in obtaining government aid for the factory from an investment center when he served as minister of industry, labor, and trade.
The factory is scheduled to erect a power station that will produce some 120 megawatts of electricity.
The said power station is one of dozens of private power stations planned for the coming years even though not one has actually been built yet. A majority of these power stations, like the one in Dimona, will be medium-sized stations for the purpose of supplying electricity and energy to factories, be they new shops like Dimona Silica, or existing ones as an alternative to the electricity they receive today from Israel Electric Company and ease up their oil usage. A number of the larger power stations will supply electricity to the local municipalities, kibbutzim, the IDF, and more.
The largest of the power stations is Dorad Station, which is slated to be built in the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline facilities.
A vast majority of the stations will be operated on a joint cycle – a combination of producing electricity from natural gas and solar power.
