EBRD loan to finance replacement of ‘obsolete’ Al Hussein Thermal Power Station

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday it is helping to address energy security and climate change challenges in Jordan with financing for a new energy-efficient power plant in the country.

The EBRD is providing a $95 million A/B loan for the construction of a 485 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle gas turbine thermal power station located 40km northeast of Amman, it said in a statement.

The loan will be provided to Mahatat Al Zarqa Le Tawleed Al Takah Al Kahrabaieyah, a limited liability company incorporated in Jordan and majority-owned by ACWA Power International, a major international energy company.

The new Zarqa combined-cycle gas turbine plant replaces the obsolete Al Hussein Thermal Power Station and will be twice as efficient. The new plant involves a fuel switch from oil to natural gas that will reduce greenhouse gas emission in the country.

The investment will also play an important role in Jordan’s transition to a low-carbon economy, because the new plant will also increase the required base load power in the country.

This in turn will facilitate the successful integration of more renewable sources of energy in the system. 

Since 2012, the EBRD has financed six solar power plants (total of 164MW), one wind power plant (82MW) and one 240MW thermal power plant, the statement said.