Jordan tops region in clean energy investment ranking for 2019

AMMAN — For the third year in a row, Jordan ranks first in the MENA region in terms of best investment environment in the field of renewable energy, according to Bloomberg’s Climatescope 2019 Index.

The index announced Jordan as sixth among 104 countries worldwide, following India, Chile, Brazil, China and Kenya, in attracting investments into its renewable energy sector, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati said in a ministry statement on Saturday.

Climatescope is a country-by-country assessment, interactive report and index that evaluates the investment conditions for clean energy in emerging markets. It profiles markets worldwide and evaluates their ability to attract capital for low-carbon energy sources while building a greener economy, according to its website.

The Kingdom has succeeded in attracting ventures in the renewable energy sector that reached 1,450 MW of the totalled installed capacity, the minister said, predicting that by the end of 2020 and early 2021 it will be some 2,400 MW at an estimated value of $3 billion.

Renewable energy is an “integral part” of the Kingdom's energy security, she added, pointing out that about 14,500 subscribers have renewable energy systems.

The Kingdom is recognised as a pioneering country in shifting to renewable energy, “thanks to the country’s policies and regulations”, the minister said, highlighting that the ministry installs solar panels on homes of National Aid Fund beneficiaries for free.

Commenting on the evaluation criteria, Zawati said that the Bloomberg index has considered countries’ previous, current and future achievements, noting that the study covers a number of indicators including policies and regulations, achieved investments as well as expected opportunities in the near future.

According to the study, Morocco was another MENA region country that ranked 10th best investment environment from the total countries measured in the field of renewable energy.