Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, has signed the power purchasing agreement (PPA) with National Electric Power Company, Jordan’s state electricity provider, completing a key step in development of the largest solar power plant in Jordan.

The 200-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant will be linked to Al Muwaqqar substation located 10 kilometres outside Amman. Once connected to the national grid, it will supply the annual power needs of around 110,000 homes and displace an estimated 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

The agreement to develop a PV plant follows the inauguration of the 117MW Tafila wind farm in Jordan in December, the Middle East and North Africa’s first utility-scale wind project.

Tafila was developed by Jordan Wind Project Company, a partnership between InfraMed (50 percent), Masdar (31 percent) and EP Global Energy (19 percent).

The solar power plant and Tafila will help Jordan reach its 2020 goal of producing 15 percent of its domestic electricity needs from renewable sources. Today, the kingdom imports around 96 percent of its energy at a cost equivalent to 20 percent of its national GDP. Combined, the two projects will account for nearly 18 percent of the 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy Jordan plans to install by 2020.

“The solar power plant will raise the international profile of Jordan as a key destination for utility-scale renewable energy projects, stimulate local job creation and knowledge transfer, and further incentivise the adoption of commercial clean energy in the Middle East and North Africa,” Emirates News Agency (WAM) quoted Dr Ibrahim Saif, Jordan Energy Minister, as saying.

Masdar has invested $2.7 billion (AED9.90 billion) in the development of renewable energy and clean technologies in the MENA region and international markets, and today has 2.7GW of gross power generating capacity either deployed or under construction.