Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure plan to place new power lines connecting to the capital Jerusalem which it said will “strengthen the reliability of the electricity supply” has been approved.
The plan was designed to enable the expansion of the electricity transmission system to Jerusalem in order to respond to the growing demands in the city and its surroundings, thereby strengthening the reliability of the electricity supply to the capital.
The greater Jerusalem rea is currently connected to the national electricity system by means of a voltage line of about 400 kV, which reaches a switching station near Moshav Ibn Sapir, and also by means of voltage lines of about 161 kV that come from the Modi’in area (west of the city) through the Jerusalem Corridor. The ministry said this is because there are no power stations in the area to produce electricity.
The said the plan will allow the addition of a new high voltage overhead line from the Shefala area (southwest of the city) to a new switching station within the borders of Jerusalem, near the Golda Meir interchange, which is expected to be built in the coming years.
The route of the strip for the transmission line was chosen after a review of the impact on the environment was conducted and a thorough and complex examination of alternatives was carried out, taking into account, among other things, the redundancy and survival of the electricity transmission system, distance from settlements, adherence to existing infrastructures, impact on sensitive landscape and environmental areas, prevention of damage to flight safety and activity security system.
