NEPCO stresses readiness to face peak summer energy loads

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s electric system “enjoys high reliability that resembles that of developed countries’ grids”, National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) Director General Amjad Rawashdeh said on Sunday.

Rawashdeh told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the company is implementing certain plans to enhance its readiness to face electric loads during peak months.

He added that NEPCO can address the demand for electric power by implementing “appropriate” operational plans and ensuring the generation plants’ capacity and readiness to meet the expected power demand during the 2022 summer.

Jordan’s electric system, whether in the transmission or generation network, is “fully prepared” to face the summer season, he noted, adding that NEPCO has completed periodic and preventive maintenance programmes to secure “sufficient” power generation capacity to meet the loads resulting from high temperatures.

The conventional power generation capacity went down from 4,000 megawatts (MW) in 2020 to 3,977 MW in 2021 by 0.6 per cent, while the renewable energy capacity increased from 1,424 MW in 2020 to 1,579 MW in 2021, marking a 10.9 per cent increase, according to NEPCO 2021 report cited by Petra.

The electricity purchased amounted to 19,618 gigawatt hours (GWh), an increase of 2.2 per cent compared with 2020, which amounted to 19,194 GWh, of which 15, 261 GWh came from conventional generation projects, and 3,758 GWh from renewable energy enterprises, 394.8 from Egypt, and 21.3 GWh from other ventures, the report showed.

Meanwhile, the energy sold in 2021 amounted to 19,281 GWh, a 2.2 per cent increase compared with 2020, whereas energy exported to Al Quds Power Company (Jericho) amounted to 167 GWh and 6 GWh were delivered to the Iraqi border crossing of Trebil.

Revenues energy from energy sales stood at JD1.3 billion, while international interconnection sales amounted to JD12.9 million in 2021, and income from other energy sales reached JD27.4 million, the report revealed.