King Abdullah Ibn Al-Hussein on Sunday inaugurated a solar-run power plant with a 5.6-megawatt (MW) capacity at the premises of the Royal Court.

 

The project was implemented by the Royal Court’s Royal Engineering Administration in cooperation with the private sector, and similar projects will be carried out in Al Ghabawi, Qatraneh and Bergesh.

 

The power plant will save JD2.8 million in electricity costs annually, and the project’s cost will be recovered in around three years, the administration statement said.

 

Also on Sunday, the government qualified technical offers by 24 local and international companies that are competing to build solar plants representing some 6-7 per cent of the grid’s current capacity. Four out of the 24 companies will be selected and each will build a 50MW solar-fuelled power plant.

 

Through the renewable energy fund at the Energy Ministry, ministries and institutions can fund renewable energy projects in public sector institutions like schools, hospitals and mosques.

 

According to the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission, by the end of 2015, around 330MW produced from solar and wind energies will be added to the national electricity grid as part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at increasing renewables’ contribution to the total energy mix.

 

The Kingdom has one of the highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance in the world with an estimated 330 days of sunshine per year. (Jordan Times)

 

Photo: King Abdullah inaugurates a solar-run power plant at the Royal Court on Sunday (Photo courtesy of Royal Court)