Israel's Ministry of Energy on Sunday announced the allocation of 200 million new shekels (61.6 million U.S. dollars) to connect industrial consumers to the country's natural gas distribution network.
In a statement, the ministry said the amount is part of a national plan to accelerate the connection of industrial companies to the network.
This decision, taken by the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance, is another step to reduce the import and the refining of polluting fuels, such as mazut, diesel and especially liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
"The plan can save industrial consumers a total of 80 million shekels per year by reducing energy consumption and using additional 250 million cubic meters of natural gas per year that replaces polluting fuels," the statement said.
"The plan aims to significantly improve the system's redundancy, accelerate the deployment of the distribution network and enable the connection of hundreds of natural gas consumers," it added.
The ministry noted that it encourages the efforts to make natural gas a major energy source in the Israeli industry, as part of the targets of the energy sector for 2030.
"Natural gas provides many economic and environmental benefits, including lower electricity generation costs, and less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions," the ministry concluded.
Editor: Kelly
