Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. has announced plans to develop an integrated renewable energy and data center complex in Ashalim, southern Israel. The company will invest up to USD 1.1 billion in the project after securing a 50-acre site through a land tender from the Israel Land Authority (ILA).
The project will include a data center with a 100-megawatt (MW) hourly electricity consumption capacity. To reduce reliance on external power sources, the facility will have an adjacent solar power plant and an energy storage system. The renewable energy produced on-site will partially cover the electricity demand of the complex.
The initiative follows Israel’s push to expand renewable energy capacity while addressing the growing power needs of data centers. The country has been working on integrating solar energy and battery storage to support high-demand facilities without increasing strain on the national grid.
Beyond large-scale projects, smaller renewable energy initiatives are also being developed in Israel. In Kibbutz Ketura, a 5 MW solar farm has been operating since 2011. This was Israel’s first solar field and continues to supply power to nearby communities. The success of this project led to additional small-scale solar farms across various kibbutzim.
Another local effort includes agrivoltaics, where solar panels are installed above agricultural land. A pilot project in the Arava Desert is testing how shading from solar panels can reduce water evaporation while maintaining crop yields. This approach aims to use land efficiently while producing clean energy.
In urban areas, rooftop solar projects are expanding. The city of Tel Aviv has encouraged the installation of solar panels on public buildings, aiming to increase local renewable energy generation. Several schools and municipal buildings now have solar systems providing power directly to the grid.
