A solar plant with a total capacity of 110MW will be built in Israel.

Spanish company Abengoa and Israeli company Shikun & Binui Renewable Energy have announced they received funding worth $1 billion (£0.69bn).

The cash to build the Ashalim plant comes from the European Investment Bank (EIB), Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and local private banks.

It will be located in Western Negev Desert in the south of the country and is expected to generate enough energy to power 63,000 homes.

It will also reduce 300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

The construction of the plant is estimated to start at the end of the month and will create more than 600 jobs.

Moshe Lahmani, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Shikun Binui Group said: “Ashalim is a leading mega project which contributes clean electricity to all the citizens of Israel and also provides significant technological and economic development to the Negev.”