USTDA helps fund feasibility study for solar power plant

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on Wednesday extended a grant to help fund the feasibility study for the Kingdom’s first private solar power project.

On the sidelines of MENA Power 2010 Forum in Cairo, the USTDA extended a $617,204 grant to Kawar Energy to support the feasibility for Shams Maan, a planned 100 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic plant in the southern region.

According to a statement from Kawar Energy, the grant will be used to assist in developing an implementation plan, technology evaluation as well as a facility and equipment assessment.

“We are thankful for USTDA’s support and endorsement to Shams Maan’s project. The grant is a milestone in progressing the project forward and will surely help us in determining the right technology to utilise and in the site assessment,” Hanna Zaghloul, Kawar Energy CEO, said in the statement.

Zaghloul indicated that the feasibility study will also explore the environmental, social and economic impact of the project on the Maan region and serve as a “road map” for the project’s implementation.

The grant, which was inked as USTDA signed similar grants deals for Egyptian and Lebanese initiatives, comes as part the agency’s support for alternative energy initiatives in the region, according to the USTDA.

“The MENA region has a wealth of energy resources, the development of which can contribute significantly to the long-term economic growth and social welfare of the region,” USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak said in a press statement regarding the grant signing.

The Shams Maan project, being carried out by a consortium comprising Amman-based Kawar Energy and Italian firm Solar Ventures, is set to produce nearly twice the electricity of the current largest photovoltaic plant in Olmedilla, Spain, a 60MW structure.

The plant, which is estimated to cost up to $400 million, would save the Kingdom up to 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to the consortium.

Earlier this year, the Maan Development Area provided the consortium with a two-square-kilometre plot of land, an area that can be increased to five square kilometres should the power plant expand its capacity.

Once operational, the plant is expected to have an initial generation capacity of 1,600 to 2,200 kilowatt hours per year, approximately 1.2 per cent of the country’s current electricity generation.

The construction of the power plant is slated to begin in 2011, the consortium previously said.

The project, the first large-scale private sector renewable energy generating project in Jordan, is in line with the national energy strategy, which calls for the production of 600MW of solar and 1,000MW of wind energy by 2020, according to the Ministry of Energy.

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10 June 2010