Amman – September 2015 – The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC) announced on Wednesday 16/9/2015 the commencement of Commercial Operations (COD) of the Tafila Wind Farm, a project owned by JWPC, after successful connection to the Jordanian national electric grid. The Tafila Wind Farm is now officially the first and largest utility scale operational Wind Farm in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
NEPCO’s Director General, Eng. Abdul Fattah Daradkeh, said in a statement that the Tafila Wind Farm has fulfilled all contractual and legal requirements in accordance with the deadlines and contracts agreed upon, and has begun providing electricity generated by renewable wind power to the national electric grid, thus making this project the first of its kind in the Kingdom.
JWPC’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Samer Judeh, said that the Tafila Wind Farm is operating at the full capacity, of 117 MW, and added that “we are all very proud that Tafila Wind Farm has reached Commercial Operations within the Projects’ timeline”. The project will produce approximately 400 GW/hour per year, and has already begun to supply energy to the national grid in accordance with the signed agreements between the two sides – “making it the first wind energy power plant in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the region” Mr. Judeh added. The $287 million USD project, built in the Southern governorate of Tafila, will account for 3% of the total energy being produced in Jordan. The electricity that the Project produces from wind energy is renewable and clean, reducing the country’s carbon dioxide emissions and provides a domestically generated power source to the kingdom.
Mr. Judeh went on to say that the Tafila Wind Farm had completed numerous testing and commissioning procedures, and added that the Project is aligned with His Majesty King Abdullah II’s vision and strategy of promoting foreign investments in Jordan in various fields and especially in the energy sector. This investment also falls within the objectives of the Jordanian Government towards diversifying the energy sector and meeting the ever-increasing demand for electricity in the country.
The Tafila Wind Farm Project is the first and largest project of its kind in the region. JWPC’s sponsors are InfraMed Infrastructure Fund, UAE based Masdar Power, and EP Global Energy of Cyprus. The Financing was arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Participants in the lender syndicate included the Dutch Development Bank (FMO), Europe Arab Bank (EAB), and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), with the Export Credit Agency of Denmark (EKF) providing a guarantee for a portion of the loans.
The project is composed of 38 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of approximately 3 MW of. Each turbine is approximately 150 meters in height, and weighs around 200 tons.