Four firms to be selected to build 50MW solar plants

AMMAN — Jordan on Sunday 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.

The companies are required to submit their financial offers to the ministry before the final selection of the winning bidder is made, a source at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources told The Jordan Times on Monday.

The qualified companies include Scatec Solar, Seci Energia, Neoen, Linuo Group Co., SunEdison Italia Construction and Alten Renewable Energy Developments, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s website.

Four out of the 24 companies will be selected and each will build a 50 megawatt (MW) solar-fuelled power plant.

“These projects are part of Jordan’s adoption of clean and local energy resources. This is part of the government’s strategy to increase usage of solar energy which is abundant in the Kingdom,” the source said over the phone on Sunday.

The 24 companies submitted bids as part of the second round of direct proposals to the ministry, the source noted, adding that deals have already been signed for projects with a total capacity of 120MW under the first round.

“We are keen on seeing more renewable energy projects in Jordan and the upcoming period will witness the launch of several projects in this regard.”

Grid capacity in Jordan, which imports some 97 per cent of its energy needs annually, stands at about 3,200MW.

Jordan, which has a strategy to increase renewable energy resource’s contribution to the total energy mix to 10 per cent by the year 2020, has one of the highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance in the world with an estimated 330 days of sunshine per year, while wind speeds in the country are as high as 7.5 metres per second, rising to 11.5 metres in hilly areas.