Published: 26 April 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
For the young man, it was the start of a life-long interest in alternative sources of power.
Years later Abramowitz, by then a well-known human rights activist and educator, visited Kibbutz Ketura in Israel’s Arava Valley where he discovered the lesson from the oil crisis about the dangers of dependence on foreign oil had been lost.
“It was incredibly hot and sunny,” says Abramowitz. “I asked about solar power and discovered it was only used for hot water.” Shocked at such a wasted opportunity, he realised “it was as clear as day” that he had to work in the solar power sector.
With his solar conversion came a decision to move permanently to Israel. Born in the US in 1964, he lived in Israel for a few years as a small child but it was only in 2006 that he made Aliyah from Boston.
In the years since then, Abramowitz has co-founded Arava Power, Israel’s leading solar developer, and the impact investment platform Energiya Global Capital. He is also president of multinational renewable energy company, Gigawatt Global, which focuses on the development of utility-scale solar fields in emerging markets.
Invited to Australia by the Caulfield Shule to help celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday, he will speak in Melbourne on Sunday and at the Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney on Monday about impact investment, the idea that an organisation can provide healthy returns to investors while advancing environmental and social goals.
“All investments have impact and some have a negative impact,” says Abramowitz, speaking to The Jewish Independent from Melbourne. “More and more investors want to do well and do good. What we have been saying with solar power is that they go hand in hand.”
Abramowitz and his team now have about 100 ‘impact investors’ committed to “healing the world” via the delivery of cheap, clean energy.
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“It is a compelling human need to literally bring power to the people,” he says. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 600 million people have no electricity and at least 200 million have electricity sourced from expensive, polluting diesel oil.
From a business perspective the investment return is better in Africa than elsewhere because the World Bank offers partial risk guarantees for private investments in Africa’s energy sector.
When Arava Power was established in 2006 the Israeli Government was “incredibly hostile” towards renewable energy, says Abramowitz. It took five years to jump over about 100 regulatory hurdles so that Arava and others could invest in solar power. Today’s environment remains tough, with only about three percent of the nation’s electricity generated by renewable energy.
“The good news is that in 2006 when we started, we wanted the Arava Valley, from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, to be [powered by] 100% renewable energy during the day by 2020. Everyone said it was impossible … [but] today solar supplies 70% of the Valley’s energy needs. By 2020 we will be at 100%. This is the model for the rest of Israel and for the rest of the world.”
Scores of developing countries approached Arava Power to learn about its success, prompting the creation of Energiya to export the Arava model of affordable and sustainable solar power projects around the world.
Part of Energiya’s impact investment model – the quadruple bottom line – is a diplomatic return, where Israel is recognised for investing in solar power in developing countries and transferring knowledge about the industry to those economies.
With about a quarter of the votes at the United Nations coming from Africa, the Israeli government is finally taking notice of work by the likes of Energiya, Abramowitz says.
“Israel has just turned 70 and the vision is for Israel to be a superpower of good news in the world. We have the best water technology in the world. We can grow anything anywhere. We know how to manage risk in this region [Africa]. We don’t just talk the talk, we are walking the walk, making money and doing good.”
Next week, Abramowitz will join a delegation of Israeli business and NGO representatives who will travel with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on a state visit to Ethiopia. Abramowitz hopes to sign a deal worth US$10 million over 25 years with Ethiopian universities to train 200,000 engineers in solar and wind technology.
It’s a long way from the days when a kid from Boston watched from his bedroom window as cars queued for petrol. But he has had plenty of support along the way from his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman, his five children, and his extended family, which includes Susan’s sisters, actress Laura and comedian Sarah Silverman, and screenwriter Jodyne Speyer, all based in the US.
“It is a very vibrant, fun family. We are a very social action-orientated family, a family that wants Israel and the Jewish community to live up to its highest potential,” he says.
YOSEF ABRAMOWITZ SPEAKING DATES
Caulfield Shule, April 29: Come celebrate Israel's 70th anniversary with Captain Sunshine
Emanuel Synagogue, April 30: Impact Investing For Global Change with Yosef Abramowitz
READ Brooklyn synagogue pulls its money out of Chase bank to promote climate change (JTA/Times of Israel)
Photo: Abramowitz and former Israeli President Shimon Peres
