In January, an agreement was signed between the Jordan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and Masdar for the development, ownership, operation and maintenance of the country’s largest solar energy project.
Masdar wholly owned subsidiary Bainounah Power will be responsible for the overall development of the proposed project, reported Jordan News Agency (Petra).
As part of the power purchase agreement, power generated from the solar plant will be sold to NEPCO.
Jordan Energy Minister Dr Ibrahim Saif was quoted by Trade Arabia as saying: "Today’s signing marks the forward progress of a significant investment in Jordan’s energy security in line with His Majesty King Abdullah II’s vision to diversify the country’s energy mix and to meet future domestic power demand growth through sustainable sources.”
The new solar plant, which will be linked to Al Muwaqqar substation located approximately 10km outside Amman, is expected to generate electricity required to power around 110,000 homes annually.
Masdar CEO Mohamed Al Ramahi said: "This flagship project will harness Masdar’s proven expertise and experience in utility-scale clean energy and pave the way towards future projects in the kingdom and elsewhere."
The project is also expected to reduce about 360,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
In December 2015, Jordan Wind Project Company has commissioned the 117MW Tafila wind farm in the country.
The solar plant and Tafila project are expected to contribute to the country’s goal to generate 15% of its total power from renewable sources by the end of this decade.
Jordan Wind Project Company is a joint venture between InfraMed with 50% stake, Masdar 31% and EP Global Energy 19%.
Image: Jordan intends to generate 15% of its total power from renewable sources by 2020. Photo: courtesy of Naypong/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
