King Abdullah II inaugurates first wind power plant in Middle East
The first and largest utility scale wind power plant in Jordan and the Middle East, The Tafila Wind Farm, was inaugurated last December 17 under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II. The 117-megawatt wind farm is directly connected to the national grid and will produce 400 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually.
The Tafila Wind Farm was developed in response to the 2010 renewable energy law, calling for around 10% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. Jordan imports around 96% of its energy needs at a cost equivalent to 20% of the country’s GDP.
His Majesty King Abdullah II announced the official launch of the wind farm before taking a tour of the plant, which is owned and managed by the Jordan Wind Project Company. At JD85 per megawatt-hour, the wind turbines will produce electricity at less than half the cost of generation for conventional power sources .The project will save the government around $50 million every year, and will supply approximately 3.5 percent of the country’s annual electricity consumption.
Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC) is an international coalition that includes, InfraMed Infrastructure Fund (France), Masdar (UAE) and EP Global Energy (Cyprus).
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Ibrahim Saif, said that Jordan has been emphasizing the importance of renewable energy sources in recent years. The government is implementing a number of studies and programs that improve and develop the use of alternative energy sources, in addition to efforts to create an attractive investment climate in the field of renewable energy. The minister stated that the project will produce energy from carbon free resources, displacing 235,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The project’s foundation stone was laid by JWPC in April 2014 while the construction was completed in August this year. 38 VESTAS V112 wind turbines were installed, where each turbines is 150 meters high including its blades. Tafila was chosen due to its steady, unobstructed wind flow, speed and direction.