In 2016 the Israeli Ministry of Energy announced that the IEC would be ordered to shut down the older block 1 (generation units 1-4) of the station in the early 2020s. Block 1's production capacity will be replaced with a natural gas powered 2-unit combined cycle power plant utilizing two advanced GE Power HA-class gas turbines, scheduled to come online in 2022. The new gas-powered plant is expected to be built in the space originally reserved for additional coal units in the northern part of the Orot Rabin site and although shut down, coal units 1-4 will continue to be maintained so that they may be restarted in case of emergency (such as an extended disruption in the domestic supply of natural gas).