Masdar JV plans MidEast's first wind power project

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A company part owned by Abu Dhabi's green energy firm Masdar, has signed a financing agreement to builf the Middle East's first wind power project.

Jordan Wind Project Company, in which Masdar holds a 31 percent interest, said the project will be located in Jordan.

The 117MW Tafila Wind Farm will increase the country's total power capacity by three percent and will cost about $290m to build, a statement said.

JWPC, which is a co-development between InfraMed, Masdar and EP Global Energy, will start power delivery in 2014, building up to full commercial operations in 2015.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, said: "Jordan is one of the Middle East's most promising clean energy markets and this project is another milestone in the region's energy evolution.

"Jordan is a prime example of where the cost of renewable energy is lower than conventional sources of power generation. This project is a natural step toward Jordan's energy and economic security.

"Today, countries in the region are increasingly integrating wind and solar power as commercially viable solutions to address long-term energy security. Just like the rest of the world, the Middle East is faced with meeting rising energy demand, while also reducing its carbon footprint."

Samer Judeh, chairman of JWPC, added: "JWPC's 117MW Tafila Wind Farm is... a major step toward getting Jordan on the renewable energy map of the world.

"Our country has suffered from a lack of domestic conventional energy sources and from serious challenges in security of energy imports. Jordan, however, has abundant renewable resources, and this will be the first and a showcase for many such projects to come."

Tafila will produce approximately 400GWh of electricity annually and displace 235,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

With Jordan's electricity demand expected to grow by an estimated 5 percent annually until 2020, the country is rapidly developing new sources of energy generation to avoid future shortfalls.

Tafila is the first wind-power project to be developed under Jordan's Renewable and Energy Efficiency Law passed in 2010.

The law calls for the country to obtain seven percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2015, rising to 10 percent by 2020.

When the Tafila project is fully developed, it will account for almost 10 percent of Jordan's 2020 renewable energy target.

Project financing was provided by a group of international financial institutions and banks including the International Finance Corporation, the European Investment Bank, Eksport Kredit Fonden, OPEC Fund for International Development, FMO, Europe Arab Bank and the Capital Bank of Jordan