The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it provided a $22 million loan for the construction and operation of a 50 MW solar plant in the Risha region, 300 kilometers north-east of Amman.
The loan will be provided to Solar Power Projects PSC, a Jordanian company fully owned by Saudi Arabia’s International Company for Water and Power Projects (ACWA Power). The EBRD loan is provided alongside parallel loans from the German Investment Corporation DEG and the Arab Bank, of $16 million each. The Arab Bank is also holding the onshore accounts and security on behalf of the lenders.
The new plant will be located next to an existing 150 MW gas-fired power plant, owned and operated by CEGCO, the largest generator of electricity in Jordan and a subsidiary of ACWA Power. The gas-fired plant was constructed in 1984 and is nearing the end of its lifetime.
Harry Boyd-Carpenter, EBRD director for power and energy, said: “This project will progressively replace the ageing gas-fired plant with a new solar installation generating the cheapest power in Jordan while using the existing transmission line.”
The solar project will be the eighth financed by the EBRD in Jordan over the past four years, bringing the total installed capacity of power projects supported by the bank in the Kingdom to more than 1,100 MW. “It demonstrates what can be achieved in an environment where the regulatory framework, the tariff design, and access to finance allow for the successful use of renewable sources of energy and is a powerful symbol of Jordan’s energy transition,” Boyd-Carpenter said.
It has also signed financing agreements for the Shobak wind project. The EBRD has financed 145 MW of renewable generating capacity in Jordan during 2017 alone, including the 50 MW Al Safawi solar plant, which was signed in September. Since starting operations in the country in 2012, the EBRD has financed more than 1.1 GW of generating capacity across 12 projects.
Jordan became an EBRD country of operations in 2012. To date, the Bank has committed over $1 billion to 41 projects in the Kingdom.
