After a R&D program was carried out and funded by PAMA and the Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures with an investment of approximately $30 million, the 13 MW demonstration plant was completed in 1989.

The generated power was sold to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), and low-pressure steam was supplied to an adjacent industrial complex.

[2] The power station required approximately half a million tons of oil shale annually, which was transported from a nearby open-pit mine.

[2] OPC Rotem, a joint venture of IC Power, a subsidiary of the Israel Corporation, and Dalkia Israel Ltd., a subsidiary of Veolia Environnement, built a 440 MW single-shaft combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant at the site.

As of 2020, OPC is seeking approval from the national planning authorities for the addition of a 530MW generation unit to the site.