Israel’s Electricity Authority has introduced a supplementary tariff for low-voltage solar plants integrated with energy storage systems. It aims to bypass the congestion on the national electricity grid, as storage will allow PV-generated electricity to be used during the night when demand is higher.

The agency said developers will be allowed to build additional storage facilities without increasing the existing connection to the grid and without submitting additional applications. The measure applies to distributed-generation solar plants – mostly rooftop PV projects for self-consumption purposes, with surplus electricity to be injected into the grid.

According to the decision, if a distributed PV plant produces more solar energy than the regulated rate, the producer will receive an additional payment covering the difference between the reduced rate and the regulated rate. The reduced rate is 5% for PV installations with capacities up to 300 kW and 15% for facilities up to 600 kW in size.

“The unique rate will be given during peak hours only and will be calculated and paid to the producer on an annual basis,” the Electricity Authority said in a statement.

The agency said that by offering a supplementary tariff for stored electricity that would have otherwise been fed into the congested grid, it will be able to increase the amount of solar without putting the network under additional pressure.

“The decision will make it possible to bypass the network traffic jams and increase the scope of renewable energy production by hundreds of megawatts per year,” said Amir Shavit, the chairman of the Electricity Authority.