Manara Pumped Storage Plant, Israel - A green battery for the IEC

Alternative power systems in Israel

The Manara power station, operated by an Operation and Maintenance Contractor, will serve as a hot reserve for the Israel Electric Company (IEC) for times of high demand during which it is required to supply high production capacities. The scheme for daily production of electricity of the power station will be determined by IEC, who will dispatch the power station for the supply of electricity to the grid in accordance with its needs. Based on the principles of the tariff arrangements, the pumping costs during production will be totally covered by IEC through its payments for the electricity produced.

As part of this initiative, Ellomay Pumped Storage (2014) Ltd (SPC) will build and operate the Manara Pumped Storage Power Plant and has received a provisional license from the State of Israel and signed a Power Purchase Agreement with IEC.

Manara project general details

Manara is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee adjacent to the Lebanese border and overlooking the Hula Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council.

Image origin: Google maps

The Manara Pump Storage Project will have an installed capacity of 156 MW (single 156 MW unit). The design of the system is compliant with a daily cycle (generation and pumping). The project includes one pump-turbine unit that is able to convert the hydraulic energy into electric energy and vice-versa.

The pump-turbine is capable of fully automatic operation and of providing several operating modes and capabilities. In turbine operation, the pump-turbine is suitable for frequency control within all the load range.

The entire start / stop, dewatering, coupling, operation and synchronization will be automatically controlled by means of computerized controllers, connected to indicators and sensors on the systems and motors, in order to ensure correct operation as high level of availability, reliability and maintainability is required in order to satisfy the IEC grid requirement.

Key figures of the Manara Pump Storage Power Plant

The upper reservoir with an active storage of 1.2 Mio. m³ is designed as daily reservoir. The power water way with a length of round 1,100 m and 3.0 m diameter is connected to the lower reservoir with an active storage of 1.24 Mio. m³.

The powerhouse is situated in a cavern inside the mountain hills and includes one pump-turbine, one motor-generator and a step-up transformer with a total installed capacity of 156 MW.

AFRY's assignment covers Owner’s Engineering services for Ellomay PS Ltd. It will be an important role to ensure timely, cost and quality fulfilment for the Owner, working closely with the EPC Contractor, Electra Infrastructure Ltd. Beside the site activities, AFRY will review the full design and will support the Client during the commissioning of the project.

The overall schedule for AFRY's services is about 60 months.

This is a continuation of AFRY's outstanding experience in the development and design of PSPP globally.

As we are convinced about the dispatch of Renewable Energy in the near future, we are very pleased to bring this important infrastructure project into construction and operation in due time.

Client: Ellomay PS Ltd

Project duration: 2021 - 2026

Did you know?

• The capacity of Pumped Storage Power Plants (PSPP), the world’s ‘water battery’, is estimated to 161,000 Megawatts (MW) and could be increased by 50 percent until 2030, reaching 240,000 MW globally.

• AFRY is one of the largest hydropower consulting engineering companies globally, ranked No. 4 in the ENR Global Sourcebook 2020.