Orot Rabin

Orot Rabin Power Station
250px Orot Rabin power plant and its coal pier, viewed from Caesarea Maritima
Location of Orot Rabin Power Station in Israel
Country	Israel
Location	Hadera
Coordinates
Status	Operational
Construction began	1973
Commission date	1981
Owner(s)	IEC
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Fuel oil
Tertiary fuel	Crude oil
Power generation
Units operational	4 X 375 MW 2 X 575 MW
Make and model	Babcock & Wilcox ABB GE MAN
Nameplate capacity	2,590

Orot Rabin (Hebrew: אורות רבין‎, lit. Rabin Lights) is a coal-fired power station situated on the Mediterranean coast in Hadera, Israel. It is owned and operated by Israel Electric Corporation (IEC).

History

Construction of the station began in 1973 and Unit 1 began operating in 1981. A coal port is attached directly to the station which supplies all its coal consumption needs. Its total generating capacity is 2,590MW of electricity using the six power generating units (two large units and four smaller units) located at the site. The plant's overall design can accommodate two additional large units which could be built at a future date.

The chimneys at Orot Rabin

Originally the power station was named Maor David after David Shiffman, then-chairman of the IEC who died during its lengthy period of construction. However, after the completion of a major expansion of the station in the 1990s and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the station was renamed in his honor to Orot Rabin, Hebrew for "Rabin Lights".

Technical description

As of 2011 the plant is Israel's largest power station with its 2,590 MW representing 23% of the Israel Electric Corporation's total generation capacity (that is, unless Phase D expansion at the Rutenberg power station in Ashkelon will be built, at which point the latter would surpass Orot Rabin as Israel's largest power station). The plant burns 18,000 tons of coal every 24 hours and uses 320,000 tons of seawater every hour. It is also possible to operate the station using Fuel oil or crude oil. In 2009, a large desalination plant was built adjacent to the power station.

Flue gas stack 3 of the power station is 300 metres (980 ft) tall, making it Israel's second-tallest structure after the towers of the Dimona Radar Facility.

Environmental issues

Orot Rabin has been accused of polluting the nearby Hadera Stream. Greenpeace claims that the station pollutes the sea water when coal is unloaded from ships and the sea water used for cooling the plant ends up in the Hadera River which harms wildlife.