King Hussein Foundation goes solar

AMMAN — The King Hussein Foundation (KHF) on Thursday inaugurated its solar farm with a 750 kilowatt peak (kWp) capacity to serve the foundation’s facilities.

Located in the capital’s northern Shafa Badran area, the photovoltaic wheeling project, which was launched under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Noor, is part of the foundation’s commitment to sustainable development and the national efforts to enhance the role of renewable energy.

“By establishing the solar farm in Shafa Badran, the KHF is contributing to our nation’s efforts to become more self-sufficient in this field of renewable energy generation,” Queen Noor, KHF founder and chairperson, said at the launch event.

The project, with a total cost of nearly JD900,000, was carried out through a soft loan agreement with Capital Bank, financed by the French Development Agency’s (AFD) SUNREF programme and supported by the EU. 

The project was implemented by Mustakbal Clean Tech.

KHF Executive Director Hana Shahin said the farm’s generation capacity of 750kWp green energy will serve at least 32 KHF locations, where several educational and health institutes, clinics, microfinance branches, and arts and community development centres operate. 

She described the KHF as a “pioneering” nonprofit in reducing its carbon footprint, contributing to Jordan’s strategic energy goals, as well as minimising the foundation’s operational costs, and — as a result — maximising the investment in outreach expansion to the most vulnerable in the Jordanian community.

Shukri Halabi, chief operations officer at Mustakbal Clean Tech, said the project will save the KHF an equivalent of JD350,000 and nearly 2,300 barrels of oil annually. In addition, it will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 tonnes per year.

The project was carried out in cooperation with the Jordanian Electric Power Company. 

EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana highlighted the project as an example of real partnership between several entities that work collectively to help Jordan realise its target for renewable energy to form 10 per cent of the total energy mix by 2020.

He added that the EU has supported Jordan’s energy sector with 160 million euros so far, adding that this assistance covers schools, hospitals, universities, mosques, churches and public buildings.

For his part, Thierry Caboshe, first counsellor at the French embassy in Amman, expected this project to inspire similar initiatives for clean energy in the future, highlighting his country’s determination to maintain Jordan as a key partner in the energy sector.

He added that France has provided 370 million euros to finance energy projects in Jordan, mainly in renewable energy, noting that French-funded projects comprise 25 per cent of national renewable energy production.