On February 20, 2025, the Milken Innovation Center, in collaboration with Israel Forum for Impact Economy (IFIE), held a workshop on energy resilience and the promotion of blended finance models in the Tkuma region. The event, organized by Center’s Fellow Einav Cohen, who is placed at the Tkuma Administration as part of her fellowship program, brought together representatives from various sectors, including the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Western Negev Cluster, philanthropic organizations, and approximately 5 companies from the business sector. Participants from all communities and energy providers were present to discuss practical challenges in creating an efficient mechanism for fund transfer, particularly establishing a centralized fund instead of dispersing resources through financing distributed energy systems.
Working teams will be established to develop a concrete organizational model that will enable the implementation of the conclusions and the realization of projects in practice.
Hadas Shabtai, Naomi Raam Tarshish, and others from the Tkuma Administration, Western Negev Regional cluster, and private sector energy developers presented alternatives discussed in in two roundtable discussions focusing on removing barriers and developing blended finance models.
Subsequently, Government Decision 1699 and new Tkuma Law was passed on April 17, 2024 whereby the Tkuma Administration was authorized to promote an energy security program for the communities in the broader Western Negev community. The program will improve energy transition to renewable energy, security, and independence in a way that will enable energy resilience during emergencies, defined as the ability to maintain operational continuity of energy supply to households, essential industries, and critical public buildings during emergency-related disruptions as occurred on October 7, 2023. Further details on targeted pillars for economic recovery and development available in our recent Financial Innovations Lab Report (here).
To address this challenge, the Administration is requesting information about sustainable models and technologies (including combined technologies) from various market entities, including investors, institutional bodies, private companies, and any organization involved in the field. Based on the information received, the Administration intends to publish a call for proposals in the coming years to provide support for projects that serve the energy security program.
As part of planning a four-year program to create energy resilience in the Tekuma region, the Tkuma Administration is turning to the private sector for practical information on energy solutions that will enable functional continuity during emergencies. Responses to this current request for information should contain solutions that enable energy resilience, based on the above definition, while addressing one or more of the following value propositions:
• Alternatives for establishing clean energy production facilities that can be used during emergencies
• Combined energy production capabilities with energy storage capabilities
• Ability to optimize energy consumption by shutting down non-critical systems for energy continuity
• “Behind the meter” production, consumption management, and storage capabilities
• Ideas/proposals that will provide, during emergencies, a central solution for functional continuity of energy in communities, neighborhoods, apartment buildings, businesses, agricultural buildings, and industrial zones
• Ideas/possibilities for strengthening the emergency resilience of system components in the community distribution network
• Solutions that work directly and clearly to create energy resilience independently
• Solutions related to spatial planning (such as a spatial energy center) and/or architectural planning of communication networks and electricity networks in new buildings