1. Keynote Speech of His Excellency Alaa Batayneh
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources
on
"Status update on Renewable Energy Sector in Jordan
At
New Energy Conference
16 September 2012 , Amman – Jordan
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Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to be here with you today addressing this
important gathering. Allow me to extend a warm and special
welcome to our guests from China and all over the world and to
express my appreciation for their attendance and interest in this
conference. I would also like to express my gratitude to the
organizers of this conference.
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2. As you are aware, Jordan is a big importer of energy, amounting
to more than (96%) of our energy needs, creating a heavy burden
on the economy. Besides high energy demand with growth rates
reaching 7.4% annually in electricity needs.
We have set for ourselves the ambitious target of 10% renewable
energy input into the energy mix by 2020 in our Energy Strategy,
consisting of a mix of energy efficiency measures, solar and wind
energy, and other forms of renewables for electricity or as fuels.
Hence, we intend to follow a path of mixed technologies for
electricity generation from renewable sources, and aim to exploit
the declining costs of wind energy to reach 1200MW in 2020.
Furthermore, with an average solar radiation above 2000 kWh/m2
per year, Jordan’s solar energy potential is amongst the highest in
the world. Therefore, we aim to fasten the development of solar to
reach 600MW by 2020 despite relatively higher system costs, in
order to gather implementation experience required for much
larger future capacity expansions.
This can happen only if we work together, public and private
sectors, particularly in the creation of favorable financing
conditions to reduce the costs impact of renewable energy projects.
The challenge is to achieve this with minimal impact on the
already strained public-debt.
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3. Ladies and Gentlemen
His Majesty’s government for its part is working on refining the
policy mechanisms which reduce costs of projects and create a
clear and transparent framework for investors to finance projects
with lower risk.
We are building on the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Law which was passed as a permanent Law in April 2012. This
law, the first in the region, allows investors to identify and develop
grid-connected electricity production projects through the so called
unsolicited or direct proposal submission.
The law also created the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency Fund, which aims to channel financial resources to the
exploitation of renewable energy in Jordan. We are formalizing
how best to utilize such a fund for renewable energy and energy
efficiency projects.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, together with the
Electricity Regulatory Commission and with the support of
international experts, seeks to identify pricing options that are
attractive to investors, reflect the long term economic and
environmental benefits and are – at the same time - acceptable for
Grid Utilities and – in the end - the consumers. Therefore, a well-
founded reference price list for different Renewable technologies
was developed and issued by the ERC in May 2012.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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4. On the projects development side, , the Government developed a
Policy Statement to help establish a roadmap of how to develop the
targeted 1800MW renewable energy projects as per the Energy
Strategy, either through direct proposals or competitive tenders on
BOO basis.
As for The Direct Proposals Approach, the Ministry received
(64) Expressions of Interest last year, (34) were shortlisted with
total capacity of (1000 MW), of which (29) MOUs were signed.
Direct proposals out of these MOUs are expected to be received
beginning next year, and some of these projects- if accepted- might
be operational by the end of 2013.
I would like to mention here that last week the Ministry distributed
the Instructions for submissions of the direct proposals as well as
the draft project Agreements (including the Power Purchase
Agreement, Support Agreement and the Grid connection
Agreement), in order to help the MOU bidders prepare their
proposals on the same format and playing field to allow the
ministry evaluate those proposals on a transparent approach and
well defined mechanism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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5. In closing, I must say that Jordan has laid down the necessary legal
and commercial tools for Renewable Energy, and is ready now to
attract and receive commercial investments in this field.
I wish you a successful conference, and an enjoyable stay in our
beloved country, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King
Abdullah II.
Thank you.
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