Discount CEO: "Israel's energy sector is at a critical point"
"Israel's energy sector is at a critical point," said Avi Levy, CEO of the Discount Group, at the opening of an energy conference. He noted that the sector is undergoing rapid changes, requiring urgent improvements in planning, infrastructure, and regulatory processes to maintain economic competitiveness.
"Israel's energy sector is at a critical point," said Avi Levy, CEO of the Discount Group, this morning at the opening of the Calcalist and Discount energy conference. "The energy sector in Israel is in a period of accelerated change: investments are growing, technologies are developing, the production mix is changing, and above all — the demand for electricity is growing and changing its face."
This morning, another significant deal was reported, carried out by the bank's business division, led by Hila Eran-Zik and Noam Schweitzer, to finance a portfolio of renewable energy projects across the country with the PowerGen company of the Generation fund. This deal joins other significant financing agreements signed just this year.
Levy emphasized that this is not an immediate crisis, but a situation where delays in planning, licensing, network development, and investments can very quickly turn into a systemic problem. "In a crowded, small, and security-threatened country, a systemic problem in the energy sector does not remain in the energy sector — it affects the entire economy and national resilience. The good news is that we are not starting from zero. Israel has significant base assets: natural gas, technological capabilities, strong business players, and a proven ability to innovate. But the existing model is not advancing fast enough, is not flexible enough, and is not coordinated enough. If we continue to work with the same methods, we will get more projects waiting for connection, more bottlenecks, and more of a gap between the goals we set and what is actually built."
Levy spoke about three main challenges:
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The pace. The demand for electricity is rising, but more importantly, the nature of the demand is changing. It is no longer just more air conditioners in the summer. These are data centers, artificial intelligence, electric transportation, and smart industry, which require much more electricity and with higher reliability.
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The network. It is possible to build more production facilities, but if it is impossible to connect them and transmit the electricity to demand areas, balance it, and store it, we have not solved the problem. Our challenge is not only to produce more electricity, but to bring the right electricity to the right place, at the right time.
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Regulation and execution. In Israel, they know how to formulate strategies. The challenge is in turning them into kilometers of network, into storage facilities, into permits, into connections, and into working projects.
Looking ahead, Levy said, "We need to stop thinking about energy only as infrastructure, and start thinking about it also as a competitive advantage. A country that has available, reliable, stable electricity at a competitive price is in a better position to compete for investments and economic activity."
