EBRD provides US$22 million for solar project in Jordan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a US$22 million loan for the construction and operation of a 50 MW photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Risha region of Jordan, 300 km north-east of the capital, Amman.

The project is owned by Solar Power Projects PSC, a Jordanian company fully owned by the International Company for Water and Power Projects (ACWA Power).

The new plant will be located on government-owned land in the military zone near the Iraq border, next to an existing 150 MW gas-fired power plant, which is owned and operated by Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGCO), the largest generator of electricity in Jordan and a subsidiary of ACWA Power. The gas-fired plant was constructed in 1984 and is nearing the end of its lifetime.

Construction is projected to be completed in Q1 2019. At full operating capacity, the plant will save around 79.000 tons of CO₂ and will power 12,000 households. This will contribute significantly to achieving Jordan’s target of meeting 10% of its power demand with renewables by 2020. 

The EBRD loan is being provided alongside parallel loans from the German Investment Corporation DEG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KfW Group, and the Arab Bank, of US$16 million each. The Arab Bank is also holding the onshore accounts and security on behalf of the lenders.

Jordan became an EBRD country of operations in 2012. To date, the Bank has committed over US$1 billion to 41 projects in Jordan.