The Government of Jordan has officially launched Round 3 of is solar power tenders. It has invited private sector developers, joint ventures or consortiums to participate in the tender proceedings through request for submission of expression of interest under the Direct Proposal Submission Process.
The announcement was made at the Solar Energy trade Mission organized by the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) in Amman. The government will be looking at developing 200 MW of solar PV in the Ma'an area and another 100 MW of wind power in the southern part of Jordan. While the solar power plant will be located at a designated site, the wind power plant location will be chosen based on the applicant's proposal.
Along with this, the Public Security Directorate (PSD) also announced 60 MW of 'autonomous' solar energy projects for their facilities. MESIA had earlier expected around 120 MW.
The results for Round 2 of Jordan's Solar PPA tender were released in May 2015, when 200 MW capacity was awarded. The lowest winning tariff back then was $6.13 cents, which was bagged by Greece based GI Karnomourakis SunRise.
Prior to the official announcement of Round 3, MESIA had expected 600 MW of PV projects to be announced at the Trade Mission. It had also stated that Jordanian Free Zone Development companies will be presenting their short term and long term plans for solar energy amounting to more than 100 MWs.
Jordan, which is targeting 1,800 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2020, out of which 600 MW will come from solar PV, is currently the most vibrant PV market in Middle East.
In September 2016, a 50 MW solar PV plant received financial backing worth $76 million, from the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (see Jordan Solar Power Plant).