First PPA Signed for Utility-Scale Solar PV Plant in Jordan

In December 2013, Phoenix Solar and Mustakbal Clean Tech signed an agreement for the contract of a 1MW PV plant for the Ma'an Development Company. This is the first-utility-scale project confirmed to go ahead in the country.

London - UK February 06, 2014


Phoenix solar, an international EPC contractor, is the engineering lead and responsible for procuring components. It has also been confirmed that Trina solar modules and SMA inverters will be used. Upon completion, 4'032 modules and 56 inverters will generate approximately 2'000 MWh of solar electricity annually.

The Ma'an development company is responsible for promoting the Ma'an Development Area one of the primary sites for solar power in the country. The Development Area operates under specific commercial laws different to the rest of the country in order to enable solar to be constructed there. However in the second call for proposals by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, other locations in the kingdom are also proposed.

It is anticipated that the plant announcement is the first of many to come in the 1st quarter of 2014.This plant is part of the country's net metering programme and as well as this policy, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources is working on the power purchase agreements for its first round of solar projects and it is understood there are over 150MW to be announced. Furthermore, the second round is currently in process although it is unknown how many projects will be approved. At present Jordan has at least three Rounds of solar planned

As part of the national solar energy plans and policies, it is required that international companies bidding for projects also work in conjunction with a local company, thus capacity for solar engineering in Jordan will be sure to grow exponentially over the next 12 months.

There is also ongoing research into solar-powered desalination by Jordan's National Energy Research Centre and due to shortages in potable water, and high energy costs this research is sure to offer up further opportunities for large-scale solar in the country.

With Jordan's prominence in the region as the fastest growing solar market, it is an area of focus at the upcoming MENASOL 2014 conference (6-7 May, Dubai). Among the experts sharing commercial and technical knowledge on Jordan are HE Electricity Commissioner of the Electricity Regulation Commission, Jordan as well as the CEO from Kawar Energy, CEO of EDAMA and the Global Head of Corporate Finance at the Arab Bank

For more information on the conference, do visit: http://goo.gl/Ilnh0Z

Featured Product

MORNINGSTAR - GenStar MPPT

MORNINGSTAR - GenStar MPPT

GenStar MPPT is the industry's first fully integrated solar DC charging system, an all-new design with "lithium DNA" from the leader in charge controllers. Out of the box, GenStar is an overachiever-delivering legendary Morningstar quality, efficiency, power and reliability along with the latest in advanced communications and control technologies. All the most installer-requested features are on-board; additional features can be easily added via Morningstar's ReadyBlock expansion technology, with snap-in blocks that provide battery metering and monitoring, signaling and load control, and lithium battery communications/control