Eighth Arab Forum for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency opens in Amman

AMMAN — HRH Princess Sana Asem on Tuesday attended the opening of the Eighth Arab Forum for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

The three-day forum, organised by the Arab Renewable Energy Authority (AREC), brings together 20 countries and focuses on Jordan’s importance as a “vital hub” for investment, smart grids, green hydrogen and sustainability, as well as an energy transfer hub between the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. 

It also includes a specialised workshop on promoting energy storage and electric vehicles and the importance of Arab economic integration in the field of renewable energy, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Amani Azzam said the energy sector in Jordan is one of the vital sectors following long-term national strategies, the latest of which is the comprehensive national strategy for the energy sector for 2020-2030.

Azzam said that the national strategy focuses primarily on achieving energy supply security by diversifying sources and forms of imported energy, developing and utilising local energy sources, creating opportunities for the private sector, encouraging private investment in infrastructure projects for the energy sector, maximising regional energy interconnection projects and cross-sector efficiency in energy consumption.

She added that the strategy aims to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity generation from 21 per cent in 2020 to 31 per cent in 2030, noting that there are more than 2.6 gigawatts of renewable energy projects connected to the grid, since solar and wind energy produced 27 per cent of the overall electricity generation by the end of 2022.

Azzam added that the ministry, in a bid to make Jordan a regional hub for green development, is implementing a set of projects to export green energy, whether with electricity produced from renewable energy sources or green hydrogen.

For his part, AREC Secretary-General Muhammad Taani expected the investment volume of Arab countries in the sector to exceed $1 trillion in 2035, with Saudi Arabia at the top of the list of investments of up to $100 billion, while Jordan is considered the first Arab country in relying on electric vehicles.