The Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources published on its official
Facebook page an infographic showing that Jordan ranks first in the Arab world
in percentage of installed capacity for renewable energy sources.
اضافة اعلان
According to the
ministry figures the contribution of renewable energy sources to electric power
generation projects constituted 29 percent of the electric power generated in
the Kingdom in the first half of 2022.
The infographic
published by the ministry also shows that Jordan ranks third in the Arab world
in the amount of renewable energy used.
Hashim Aaqil, an analyst in oil and energy affairs,
told
Jordan News that 29 percent of the energy in Jordan comes from
renewable energy, i.e., solar and wind power, and that there are projects to
generate renewable energy that can be used in some industries, hotels, and
homes.
Aaqil added that
the percentage is expected to reach 50 percent of the total energy need in
2030, “as every day there is a new development in the renewable energy sector,
which helps make the most of renewable energy”.
The percentage
could be bigger if the issue of storage is solved.
“Jordan has a
problem with regard to renewable energy, which is the lack of storage capacity,
as the electrical capacity is approximately 6,500 MW, while consumption is at a
rate of 3,500 MW during the days of extreme cold and extreme heat,” he said.
According to
him, “the surplus of renewable energy we have either needs storage capacity,
which is very expensive due to the high cost of storage batteries, and takes
time, or we need to implement some electrical interconnection projects with
neighboring countries to take advantage of the surplus”.
The only such
project functioning now is the connection with Egypt, he said, adding that
“there are projects to link electricity with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and
Lebanon, but they are not currently operational”.
Economic expert
Adly Qandah believes that before thinking of interconnected grids, the needs of
the domestic market need to be met.
Jordanian
citizens, he told
Jordan News, do not care about the agreements, but
rather expect initiatives to reflect on their living conditions.
“Before thinking
of exporting the surplus of electricity, the government should secure the
country’s needs, and when the value of the electricity bill of the Jordanian
citizen becomes zero dinars, it can start thinking about exporting the
surplus,” Qandah said.
He added that
the global prices of oil derivatives started to go down, “but citizens’ bills
were not affected by this decrease, and instead of encouraging use of renewable
energy, fees and taxes on electric cars are raised”.
Economist Sami
Shreim told
Jordan News that numbers and proposals are nothing but
“showoff statements” that “do not address the citizens’ concerns nor reduce the
burden on them”.
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