Water ministry looks to reduce its energy consumption

AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is undertaking a study to reduce its energy consumption, which constitutes more than 13.6 per cent of the Kingdom’s energy use, according to government officials.

The study, part of a 26-million-euro project funded by the German Development Bank, seeks to reduce the ministry’s energy expenditure by JD3.2 million annually, ministry officials said.

The water sector’s energy consumption is rapidly increasing, doubling from 979 gigawatts per hour in 2007 to 1,955 gigawatts per hour in 2012, according to Water Minister Hazem Nasser.

“The volume of energy expenditure in the water sector exceeds 60 per cent of the expenditures of the Water Authority of Jordan, which total JD80 million annually. This shows the challenge the sector is facing,” a ministry statement quoted Nasser as saying.

Meanwhile, a source at the ministry said the project entails three phases: conducting a 1.9-million-euro study, implementation of the project and a 12-month maintenance phase.

Under the project, new equipment will be procured and installed in several pumping stations and water resources, the source added, in addition to installing the state-of-the-art SCADA system, which is a high-level supervisory control and data acquisition system, in order to reduce energy consumption.

“Under the first phase of the project, some 4 per cent, or 42,100 gigawatts, will be saved annually, which is equal to spending JD3.2 million on energy,” the source said, highlighting that water wells are responsible for 24 per cent, or 258 gigawatts, of the water sector’s energy consumption.