The first shale oil-fuelled power plant in Jordan will be ready by the end of 2018, a report said, adding it is expected to cut the country’s energy spending by $500 million annually, the Jordan Times reported.
The $2.2 billion plant will have a total capacity of 470 megawatts (MW), will use Jordan’s reserves of oil shale estimated at more than 70 billion tons, Mohammad Hamed, Jordan’s minister of energy and mineral resources said.
He was speaking at a press conference after signing a 30-year power purchase agreement with Enefit (Eesti Energia AS), YTL Power International Berhad and Near East Investments, who will build the power plant.
The project will create 3,000 jobs during the construction phase and 700 jobs for ongoing operations, added Hamed.
“The project will greatly help in Jordan’s efforts to reduce energy imports from 97 percent of its needs currently to 60 percent by 2020,” Hamed noted, highlighting that the plant is the first of its kind in the region.
