Green energy revolution at Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University (TAU) now sources about 45% of its electricity from green energy, as part of its strategic climate and sustainability plan, the university’s Green Council has announced.

Nearly half of campus power use is no longer based on fossil fuels, a shift TAU says places it at the forefront of sustainability among Israeli universities.

TAU consumes around 75 million kWh of electricity annually, with about 4 million kWh generated on-site by 17,000 square meters of rooftop solar arrays on buildings, including Dan David, Buchmann-Mehta, Mitchell, Sharett, De Botton, Goldschleger, and the Health Professions complex, as well as lecture halls in the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. A large solar installation is also planned above the Smolarz parking lot.

The remaining green power, about 29 million kWh, comes from off-campus solar sources. Under a multi‑year plan, TAU aims to reach 100% green electricity, including a major on-campus energy storage facility. In partnership with Shikun & Binui Energy, the university will build a storage centre of more than 30 MWh—one of the largest in central Israel and the first at an Israeli academic institution.

The Council emphasises that its multiannual plan involves a shift to 100% green power within the next few years, including the construction of a large energy storage centre on campus.

Launched three years ago by the Green Council under President Prof. Ariel Porat and CEO Gadi Frank, the strategic plan also targets energy and water savings, waste reduction and sorting, smarter resource use, lower transport emissions, and protection of campus biodiversity, alongside climate‑adaptation measures such as shading and tree planting.

“Until recently, our renewable share was only a few per cent; in a short time we reached 45% green power,” said Dr Judi Lax, Head of Sustainability, Engineering and Maintenance. She called the shift “a real operational revolution” that sharply cuts TAU’s greenhouse gas emissions, crediting broad collaboration across management, staff, students, and faculty.

Prof. Marcelo Sternberg of the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, who leads the campus emissions‑reduction program, said TAU’s rapid move to 45% renewables shows how “science, vision and good management” can turn environmental commitments into a large‑scale reality. He framed the effort as a signal to students, Israeli society, and institutions worldwide that significant climate action “is both possible and necessary—and the time to act is now.”