AMMAN — Currently, Jordan generates
more electricity from
renewable sources than any other Arab country, and by
2030, the Kingdom hopes to generate half of its electricity from renewables,
said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Al-Kharabsheh.
اضافة اعلان
The minister’s remarks were made on Monday
during a discussion session organized by the EDAMA Association for Energy,
Water, and Environment, in cooperation with the Energy Sector Support Program
funded by the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the
Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The session, attended by CEO of
Kawar Energy Company Hanna Zaghloul and Deloitte's US Managing Director Richard
Longstaff, tackled ongoing measures and future directions to develop the energy
transition roadmap in Jordan.
"The ministry’s vision is to achieve a
secure and sustainable supply of energy through a clear strategy set out for
the coming years, with the aim of making Jordan a regional hub for green
energy, in line with the Economic Modernization Vision," Kharabsheh said.
The Kingdom is working to accomplish energy
transformation by upping the
contribution of renewable energy to the overall
energy mix and building a suitable infrastructure through the development of
the electrical grid, energy storage projects, and smart grids, he said.
"Projects to improve energy efficiency
are currently underway in various sectors," he added, highlighting one
project for
electric transportation for which a strategy and legislation are
being developed.
Green hydrogen, fuelsThe ministry is also working to keep
abreast of developments in the energy sector, including through a strategy to
establish technical and legal standards for the production of green hydrogen,
the minister added. An agreement has been signed with the Fortescue Future Industries
company to implement a project to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia in
the Aqaba Special Economic Zone.
"The ministry’s vision is to achieve a secure and sustainable supply of energy through a clear strategy set out for the coming years, with the aim of making Jordan a regional hub for green energy”
Additionally, he said a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the Danish company A.P. Moller-Maersk was signed
regarding the production of green fossil fuels in Aqaba as part of the
Kingdom’s plans to expand clean energy resources and increase local energy
resources by 50 percent by 2030.
Energy and the economyZaghloul stated that the energy transition
is an opportunity for Jordan to attract investments, create jobs in the local
information technology (IT) and energy management sectors, and encourage
Jordanian youth to innovate. The CEO highlighted the significance of benefiting
from the integration of the
telecommunications, IT, and energy sectors, which
“opens up many promising opportunities".
"Jordan has the qualifications and
good governance that qualify it to be a regional hub for green energy,"
said Richard Longstaff, executive director of Deloitte Consulting.
Longstaff also highlighted the need to
mobilize individual efforts to accelerate and achieve goals discussed at the
COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.
In turn, the chairman of the EDAMA board of
directors, Dureid Mahasneh, stressed the session’s role in focusing on the
energy transition in Jordan and addressing challenges within the sector.
Green JordanThe discussion session was held against the
backdrop of the government’s recently-launched Economic Modernization Vision
for 2023–2033, which includes a pillar on sustainable resources that lays out a
goal to "develop an enforceable energy transition roadmap (
renewable energy sources, hydrocarbons, and hydrogen, etc.)," in addition to
upgrading the energy infrastructure and enhancing mechanisms to reduce energy
costs.
The vision’s Green Jordan program seeks to
boost sustainable practices as a key feature of the Kingdom’s future economic
growth, to improve quality of life.
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