Eventual Increase in Solar Electricity Production and Desalinated Water through the Formation of a Channel between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea

Abstract

Currently, the Israeli energy industry faces the challenge of a considerable increase in solar electricity production. As a relatively isolated system, the significant expansion of solar electricity may cause problems with electricity quality. Electrical storage installation can resolve this problem. In Israel’s situation, the optimal solution could be the creation of a channel between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. The channel can solve three closely related problems: the increased production of desalinated water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural needs; the prevention of a permanent Dead Sea level decline and its imminent disappearance; the development of hydro-pumping electrical storage stations; and the creation of numerous PV facilities in the Negev area for national electricity generation. However, detailed analysis should be conducted for the estimation of the possible increase in solar electric generation with consideration of a stochastic PV outcome and the potential ability to use the Dead Sea for the brine discharge of electrical hydro-storage plants.