Rutenberg is the newest thermal power station in Israel and the second largest in terms of generation capacity.

[citation needed] The power station has a total installed capacity of 2,250 MW.

It along with other pollution control devices (including an SCR system for NOx reduction) became operational in December 2018.

[2] Construction began in the early 1980s, after completion of the first phase of the Orot Rabin power station near Hadera.

However, several subsequent objections and the greatly increased availability of domestically-produced natural gas in Israel as an alternative to imported coal starting in the early 2010s led to the plan's cancellation.

As a result, 60 dunams of land originally reserved for phase D expansion at the site will be returned by the IEC to the State of Israel in 2020.