Israel Electric Research Articles

The Security of the Israeli Electricity Sector During the Israel-Hamas War

The Security of the Israeli Electricity Sector During the Israel-Hamas War

How are public utilities responding to electricity market restructuring and the energy transition? Lessons from Israel

Public utilities in the electricity sector globally face increasing competition in the power generation segment, specifically considering government liberalization reforms that facilitate the clean energy transition process. Although the utilities may significantly impact this process, the literature has thus far neglected the perceptible strategies they employ to cope with the emerging competition, particularly with regard to renewable energy resources. This study addresses the lacuna by focusing on the case of Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), demonstrating how the coping strategies employed by this public utility evolved over time and thus shaped the local electricity sector.

Wholesale electricity market economics of solar generation in Israel

We use a two-stage model to determine the equilibrium capacities, generation levels, and prices of a wholesale electricity market in which independent power producers (IPPs) use natural gas-fired (NG) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. PV's effective capacity is high during midday but low in other daytime hours. Applied to Israel's stylized electricity market in 2030, our model finds NG and PV are necessary to meet Israel's electricity demands; NG mitigates daytime price spikes and enhances consumer welfare; NG IPPs are profitable; and PV IPPs may be unprofitable, potentially requiring government support to aid Israel's achievement of a clean and sustainable future.

Sustainable microgrids: Economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of microgrid deployment

This paper addresses the costs and benefits associated with microgrid development relative to the costs and benefits of conventional generation interconnected to a bulk transmission and distribution grid. The costs and benefits are classified as: environmental (avoided environmental damage costs); economic (mainly employment multiplier effects); deferral or avoidance of transmission and distribution investment costs; and greater access to electricity supply that is highly reliable and resilient. Deficiencies due to the lack of relevant available data and of research on economic modeling of microgrids at the societal level are discussed. The context in which these costs and benefits are measured is the Israeli electricity market, which features a highly centralized, vertically integrated electricity company (Israel Electric Corporation, IEC) with some legacy distribution companies. Moreover, because Israel’s transmission and distribution infrastructure investment have declined significantly over the past several years, the Israeli market provides a useful basis for analyses of microgrids as an alternative to such large-scale investments.The analysis reveals that under reasonable assumptions reflecting the current state of microgrid technologies, microgrids may constitute a viable, cost-effective alternative to additional central- station generation requiring new investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure. Specifically, using reasonable assumptions regarding 10-MW incremental investments in a microgrid and in central-station generation with necessary transmission and distribution investments, the analysis indicates that, when considering the reliability, T&D investment deferral, local economic, environmental, and social costs and benefits of each alternative, the net benefits to the Israeli economy from selecting the incremental 10-MW investment in a representative Israeli microgrid may exceed $13,000,000 per year. However, when local economic benefits are not considered, the net benefits decline to approximately $260,000 per year. For perspective, generation capacity additions by the Israel Electric Corporation have averaged 166 MW from 2008 through 2018, reaching 13,775 MW of installed capacity by the end of 2018. Total annual capital investment has averaged approximately $1 billion since 2015, about $400 million of which has been in the generation sector. The paper concludes with future research directions, with an emphasis on integrating engineering analysis, scenario simulation, flexibility, and quantifying social/equity (“fairness”) effects of microgrids.

Stress corrosion cracking and brittle failure in a fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) insulator from a 400 kV transmission line in humid environment

Abstract A fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) suspension insulator belonging to the Israel Electric Corporation (IECo) failed catastrophically on a 400 kV transmission line during service at the humid south Israeli coastline. The failure occurred during the summer of 2016 after 15 years of service. The suspension had a declared life expectancy of 30 years. The failure resulted in a local outage at a high cost. An investigation was commissioned. The insulator includes a FRP rod with a housing and weather-sheds made of silicon rubber (SiR); the FRP rod is fitted into a metal connector at its end. The fracture occurred 30–40 mm above the metal fitting/grading ring area near the first weather-shed. Macroscopically, the fracture surface was partially characterized by the features of brittle fracture mode in FRP, while the rest of the fracture surface featured severe fiber pullout and debonding. It was also possible to observe that a large crack in the SiR housing led directly to the fracture surface area that included stained and crushed fibers. EDS analysis revealed that the housing around the crack and the stained fibers themselves were polluted with a significant amount of nitrogen, in addition to other foreign pollutants. After surveying similar cases, it was strongly suggested that the source of nitrogen was nitric acid formed as a result of corona discharges on the insulator's surface. The acid caused the housing, fiber and resin to undergo corrosion. SEM imaging revealed fiber fracture surfaces with a morphology typical of stress corrosion cracking, showing that stress was part of the failure mechanism. The fracture of fibers and loss of resin led to a decrease in FRP rod strength and to failure.

Effect of Monetary Incentives on the Demand for Electricity of Domestic Consumers – Case of Israel

Abstract This research, based on a pilot study performed by the Israeli Electricity Company (IEC) in the framework of a demand management arrangement, focused on an economic approach for influencing domestic customers’ electricity consumption. The main objectives were to find out if monetary incentives in the form of a constant discount in the household consumer’s electricity bill (with no connection to consumption levels) influence consumers participating in a demand management arrangement with their electricity provider (here the IEC) and if such an incentive will lead to a decrease in the participants’ electricity consumption and/or a shift in their consumption from peak to low demand hours. The study examined also the monetary incentive’s influence on the participants’ willingness to join a future arrangement. The findings show that the participants who received a constant incentive increased their consumption, contrary to the expected behaviour, suggesting the presence of a “rebound effect”. One of the incentives that predicted a tendency to save electricity was the pro environmental attitude of the consumer, whereas financial incentives did not predict a tendency to save electricity. Damage to consumer comfort caused by load shedding exerted no significant influence. The economic incentive of a discount in the electricity bill increased the consumers’ willingness to join a future arrangement, even at the cost of compromising their privacy, although the possibility that this arrangement would lead to the loss of their control of home electric appliances as a result of load shedding drastically decreased this willingness. A positive financial incentive was found to have a minor influence on consumers’ willingness to participate in a demand management arrangement, while a negative incentive (the wish to avoid fines) was found to be very influential. Comparing to previous studies, the results are mixed, confirming some previous findings and contradicting others – and they offer an important contribution for the worldwide debate on energy conservation and household electricity reduction, through the Israeli dimension in a complex puzzle.

Solar driven net zero emission electricity supply with negligible carbon cost: Israel as a case study for Sun Belt countries

A high temporal and spatial resolution energy transition study was performed using a linear optimization based energy system transition model. The study uses Israel's electricity sector dataset, which has important characteristics typical for several Sun Belt countries. It has 7 scenarios aimed at assessing the impacts of various policy factors, such as carbon cost and coupling to the water sector. Under the present renewable electricity technology cost projections, a carbon cost only speeds up the transitions into renewable electricity. However, a No Carbon Cost scenario also achieves comparable results by 2050 (with only 2% fossil). The levelized cost of electricity in 2050 was shown to be less than that of 2015 in all scenarios except under the Current Policy. The Current Policy scenario will significantly increase the cost of electricity in the post-2020 period even when a carbon cost is ignored. The observed emission reduction comes after 2030 but there are still significant emissions by 2050. This shows that Israel's present energy policy carries multiple risks to the nation. Alternatively, Sun Belt countries, such as Israel, can speed the transition of the electricity sector without the need to implement carbon cost, only by promoting solar photovoltaics and supporting batteries.

An advanced technique for outdoor insulation pollution mapping in the israel electric company power grid

The paper presents the IECo (Israel Electric Co) long-term environmental study aimed at development of Digital Dust Sedimentation Model which provides an Outdoor Insulation Pollution Mapping for Local Grid. The Concept of the study is based on the Authors' idea on strong correlation between IEC 60721 Dust Sedimentation Index vs. IEC TC 60815 Site Pollution Severity Indices within considered geographic domain. The developed Pollution Maps have been validated vs. long-term ESDD-NSDD field-measurements and continuous monitoring of PM 10 fraction with correlation factors r=0.830 and r=0.697 respectively. To prove the model reliability the calibration was done for different geographic locations in different time intervals. The first-time developed innovative technology is expected to provide cost benefits with respect to dimensioning and maintenance of outdoor insulators, PV-Plants, and other pollution-sensitive local installations.

Application of Local Environmental Data to the Lightning Performance Assessment of the IECo Transmission-Line Network

The paper reports on a second part of the lightning performance study that was conducted on overhead double-circuit lines 170 kV operated by Israel Electric Corporation (IECo). The first part of this study was published this year in TPWRD vol. 31 No. 2 ( [1] ) which introduces the local environmental data including a long-term lightning incidence records, tower footing resistance, and route terrain characteristics. The goal of the present paper is to demonstrate application of the data-inputs from [1] to analysis of the relationship between the line failure rate and its design and environmental parameters. The findings imply that the prevalent lightning failure mechanism in IECo Grid is direct-strike related. The acquired results prove a conclusion on that the ineffective shielding design in combination with local stroke current statistics, route topography, and long spans may seriously compromise line reliability, even with temperate local lightning activity. Disregarding the route terrain specificity may falsify the shielding flashover failure rate assessment and devaluate the line protection design.

Characterization of Local Environmental Data and Lightning-Caused Outages in the IECo Transmission-Line Network

The lightning-related outages remain a significant factor affecting overhead-line reliability in the Israel Electric Co. (IECo) Power Grid 170 kV. The estimates derived for years 2000–2013 show that the actual failure rate for some lines does considerably exceed the accepted indices. This paper reports on the lightning study whose primary goal was to examine relevant environmental data, including topography, tower footing resistance, and lightning incidence records provided by the IECo lightning location system. This paper presents long-term monitoring experience and local statistical data patterns gained for cloud-to-ground return strokes. The 295 outage-related flashes (265 of negative and 30 of positive polarity) were identified in the IECo database. The median peak current of the negative and positive flashes causing line outages is $-$ 12.0 kA and $+$ 26 kA, respectively. The local tower footing resistances are found to be lognormal distributed with a median of 4.77 $\Omega$ and an SD of 1.44. The findings imply that revealed failure currents statistics, in combination with local route topography, are key factors controlling shielding performance of IECo lines. The acquired data will be involved in further case studies on IECo lines.

Wildfires in the eastern Mediterranean as a result of lightning activity – a change in the conventional knowledge

No records exist in the scientific literature about lightning fires in the eastern Mediterranean (EM). Although thunderstorms are frequent in winter, if spontaneous fire is ignited, it will immediately be extinguished by rain. No thunderstorms occur in summer, and therefore no favourable weather conditions for natural ignitions exist. In October 2014, the synoptic conditions over the EM comprised a Red Sea Trough (RST) with an easterly axis (a less frequent version of this system). A convective storm, accompanied by thunderstorms with intense local rains developed rapidly. Simultaneously, six wildfires were reported from different locations in northern Israel (in the EM). Lightning activity documented by the Israel Electric Co. was at the same time and locations as the reported wildfires. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case recorded in recent history of wildfires in the EM as a result of lightning. Moreover, in the literature, the RST is associated with fires only when its axis is in a western position, thus driving very hot and dry air masses. A different way of thinking is needed on the potential of lightning in autumn as a possible cause of fires under different situations of the RST.

Failure analysis and metallurgical transitions in SS 304L air pipe caused by local overheating

AISI 304 type stainless steels are widely used for structural parts in power stations due to their excellent resistance to creep and corrosion at elevated temperatures. In an incident at one of IEC's (Israel Electric Corporation) power stations, an air pipe made of AISI 304L Stainless Steel which was part of a gas conditioning system conducting hot air for mixing with natural gas, failed and cracked at two points. Failure analysis included stereo imaging, optical metallography, SEM/EDS/EBSD and magnetic tests. It was revealed that one crack occurred due to high-temperature overload and the other due to creep, showing grain coarsening and secondary phase formations respectively to an extent that is entirely atypical under standard working conditions. A follow-up investigation was conducted in order to gain further insight into the processes and conditions that led to the two crack failures in the pipe. Thermal treatments of intact specimens from an undamaged pipe area were conducted at different temperatures and times. Pipe specimens subject to heat treatments of 650°C resembled material near the creep fracture in the field pipe. Pipe specimens subject to heat treatments of 1000°C and 1150°C resembled material near the high-temperature overload failure. The thermal treatment was followed by microstructural, mechanical, compositional and phase analyses.

Service satisfaction and organizational image

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between image, service satisfaction and public opinion towards reforms in public organizations and postulate a more detailed relationship among them. The concept “New Public Management” (NPM) was initially suggested in the literature sometime around the early 1990s (Aucoin, 1990; Hood, 1991). NPM-style reforms raised the flag of responsiveness to citizens and improved public satisfaction with the assumption that organizational image would also be positively affected by such reforms. Image, satisfaction and support in public sector reforms are, therefore, the major focus of this study. Design/methodology/approach – The focus is on a major reform in the Israel electricity industry and data were collected from 500 respondents by telephone interviews. Findings – The findings support the authors ' hypotheses concerning the major role of image and satisfaction in forming attitudes towards NPM-style reforms. However, beyond conventional direct effects, the authors point to the mediating effect of organizational image on the relationship between satisfaction and support for reforms. Research limitations/implications – First, other factors not included in the model may influence support for NPM-style reforms in public organizations. Second, the study focused on a single organization in one country only and a very specific culture. Finally, the study is cross-sectional and may suffer from common-method and common-source biases and for this reason, should be replicated to allow better generalization and firmer implications. Practical implications – The findings about the preponderance of organizational image over service satisfaction can contribute to policymakers in their efforts to increase support for reforms among the public. The results demonstrate the strong relationship between organizational image and public opinion towards reform and the secondary effect of service satisfaction. Social implications – The centrality of organizational image as a core social focus for citizens as clients and for policymakers is highlighted in the discussion. It is maintained that NPM-style reforms in the social arena, and beyond, are predominantly affected by image. Therefore, there is a need to better understand how image affects social and economic reforms and attitudes towards those reforms and what may be the social consequences of such attitudes by citizens and by policymakers’ decisions. Originality/value – The originality of this study is fourfold: a unique model of image, satisfaction and attitudes towards NPM-style reforms not been studied thus far is in its current form; exploring interrelations of citizens’ satisfaction, image of the public sector and calls for reforms and change in the market-like environment of the public sphere; a telephone survey of opinions towards a specific NPM-style reform; and a focus on a major public sector organization in Israel going through reform.

Evaluation of performance of Anglo-Mafube bituminous South African coal in 550 MW opposite-wall and 575 MW tangential-fired utility boilers

We have developed a tool for the prediction of the firing behavior of any coal in a specific boiler that included many aspects such as emissions, performance, and operational issues. The tool has been tested for various coals fired in Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) 550MW opposite-wall and 575MW tangential-fired utility boilers fired. We also developed methods for studying the fouling and slagging behavior and determining the emissivity of the fly ash. In this study we further the development of these methods and applied them to investigate a new bituminous coal in a 50kW test facility and these full-scale coal-fired boilers - Anglo-Mafube bituminous South African (MAF) coal - with the objective to predict its behavior in these boilers. From this study, light can be shed on the behavior of MAF coal in other boilers.

Backup of Renewable Energy for an Electrical Island: Case Study of Israeli Electricity System—Current Status

The paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of Israeli Government's targets of 10% renewable energy penetration by 2020 and determining the desired methodology (models) for assessing the effects on the electricity market, addressing the fact that Israel is an electricity island. The main objective is to determine the influence of achieving the Government's goals for renewable energy penetration on the need for backup in the Israeli electricity system. This work presents the current situation of the Israeli electricity market and the study to be taken in order to assess the undesirable effects resulting from the intermittency of electricity generated by wind and solar power stations as well as presents some solutions to mitigating these phenomena. Future work will focus on a quantitative analysis of model runs and determine the amounts of backup required relative to the amount of installed capacity from renewable resources.

Field and Laboratory Simulation Study of Hot Spots in Stockpiled Bituminous Coal

Large coal piles (50–150 000 tons) undergo weathering processes during long-term storage in open air. Chemisorption of atmospheric oxygen, formation of surface oxides, and partial oxidative decomposition of the coal macromolecule matrix result in the release of organic and inorganic gases [e.g., methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen (H2)]. Some of these processes are exothermic, and when the rate of heat dissipation in the pile is lower than that of its formation, a significant increase in the temperature can be measured. These places are termed “hot spots”, which, in extreme cases, can result in fire eruptions. The maximal temperature measured in the hot spots was 330 °C. Monitoring of hot spots at the Israel Electric Company (IEC) bituminous coal storage sites has been conducted. A unique monitoring unit that can penetrate up to 8 m into the coal pile to sample gases and also measure the temperature was used.

A Bayesian Network-Based Approach to the Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies Analysis

This paper presents a novel approach to the CI interdependencies analysis, based on the DBN formalism. An original modeling procedure is illustrated, which divides the DBN in three distinct levels: an atomic events level, a propagation level, and a services level. The first level models the adverse events that may impact on the analyzed CIs, the second one properly captures interdependencies among CIs' services and devices, and the last one allows to monitor the state of provided services. The resulting DBN permits to perform three kinds of analysis: a reliability study, which allows to find structural weaknesses of interconnected CIs, an adverse events propagation study, which highlights the role interdependency plays in the propagation of adverse events, and a failure prediction analysis, that can serve as an useful guide to the fault localization process (failures may have many different explanations due to interdependency). A specific case study provided by Israel Electric Corporation is considered, and explicative simulations are presented and discussed in detail.

The role of conventional power plants in a grid fed mainly by PV and storage, and the largest shadow capacity requirement

Recently we reported that PV penetration of up to approximately 90% of the annual demand of the Israeli electricity grid could be achieved using properly sized storage and an appropriate operation strategy. Such a grid clearly requires some conventional generating capacity to be available in order to serve as backup at times when the PV-storage combination alone fails to meet the demand. In the present continuation of that study, we evaluate the largest conventional capacity that would have been required during the one year of data employed for our simulations. For that year, 2006, the required backup capacity for a grid with flexibility ff=0.8 and ff=1 would have been 7.5GW and 6.6GW, respectively. This is significantly less than the 10.5GW of generating capacity that the Israel Electric Corporation operated that year. Our finding emphasizes the fact that a full economic optimization of storage must be based primarily on the engineering-aspects of storage design and use.

Appropriate storage for high-penetration grid-connected photovoltaic plants

This paper addresses the dual questions: What is the appropriate storage size and its related properties for matching very large photovoltaic plants to the grid; and what are the available technologies for achieving this end. For this purpose a “Usefulness Index” is defined, which, for any grid flexibility, leads to a PV-storage combination that allows high grid-penetration without storage being wastefully large. The paper then examines the sensitivity of this “appropriate storage size” to variations in our assumptions. The specific case of the Israeli electricity grid is employed for numerical discussion, but the formalism should be useful for wider application. In particular, the “appropriate storage size” deduced in this manner is argued to be a valuable point of departure for optimizations of a more sophisticated nature. Regarding available storage technologies, none is found to have all of the required properties for massive PV-grid penetration, but hybrid combinations should be capable of achieving this end.

The spatio-temporal distribution of lightning over Israel and the neighboring area and its relation to regional synoptic systems

Abstract. The spatio-temporal distribution of lightning flashes over Israel and the neighboring area and its relation to the regional synoptic systems has been studied, based on data obtained from the Israel Lightning Location System (ILLS) operated by the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). The system detects cloud-to-ground lightning discharges in a range of ~500 km around central Israel (32.5° N, 35° E). The study period was defined for annual activity from August through July, for 5 seasons in the period 2004–2010. The spatial distribution of lightning flash density indicates the highest concentration over the Mediterranean Sea, attributed to the contribution of moisture as well as sensible and latent heat fluxes from the sea surface. Other centers of high density appear along the coastal plain, orographic barriers, especially in northern Israel, and downwind from the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, Israel. The intra-annual distribution shows an absence of lightning during the summer months (JJA) due to the persistent subsidence over the region. The vast majority of lightning activity occurs during 7 months, October to April. Although over 65 % of the rainfall in Israel is obtained during the winter months (DJF), only 35 % of lightning flashes occur in these months. October is the richest month, with 40 % of total annual flashes. This is attributed both to tropical intrusions, i.e., Red Sea Troughs (RST), which are characterized by intense static instability and convection, and to Cyprus Lows (CLs) arriving from the west. Based on daily study of the spatial distribution of lightning, three patterns have been defined; "land", "maritime" and "hybrid". CLs cause high flash density over the Mediterranean Sea, whereas some of the RST days are typified by flashes over land. The pattern defined "hybrid" is a combination of the other 2 patterns. On CL days, only the maritime pattern was noted, whereas in RST days all 3 patterns were found, including the maritime pattern. It is suggested that atmospheric processes associated with RST produce the land pattern. Hence, the occurrence of a maritime pattern in days identified as RST reflects an "apparent RST". The hybrid pattern was associated with an RST located east of Israel. This synoptic type produced the typical flash maximum over the land, but the upper-level trough together with the onshore winds it induced over the eastern coast of the Mediterranean resulted in lightning activity over the sea as well, similar to that of CLs. It is suggested that the spatial distribution patterns of lightning may better identify the synoptic system responsible, a CL, an "active RST" or an "apparent RST". The electrical activity thus serves as a "fingerprint" for the synoptic situation responsible for its generation.