• Jordan saw 11.1 MW PV capacity coming online connecting three big hotels to the grid
  • Marriott Amman, Marriott Dead Sea and Petra, and Sheraton switched to 100% solar power for their electricity requirements
  • Another, larger project of 23.1 MW capacity has been completed in Ma’an

PV consultancy firm 3G-ERES announced commissioning of 11.1 MW PV capacity to power hotels in Jordan. Installations of the three PV plants – 2.6 MW, 3.5 MW and 5 MW – took place in December 2016 and January 2017.

With this PV plants now grid connected, the hotels of Marriott Amman, Marriott Dead Sea, and Petra and Sheraton have gone 100% renewable in their power requirements. The Marriott and Sheraton have now earned the distinction of becoming the first five-star hotels in the world to be fully powered by solar energy, stated 3G-ERES.

The Marriott Amman hotel’s 2.6 MW solar power plant is expected to generate 5.8 million kWh per year, while Sheraton’s 3.5 MW plant is supposed to produce 8 million kWh of clean energy annually. The Marriott Dead Sea and Petra Hotel’s 5 MW solar PV plant is anticipated to generate 11 million kWh of solar power per year.

3G-ERES CEO Umberto Albarosa said, “The strategic vision of the Marriott & Sheraton Owners in Jordan and the passionate commitment of their management team were the key drivers for this first-of-its-kind power wheeling project in the Hashemite Kingdom.”

A few days back, renewable energy company Energoya also announced completing a PV project in Jordan- thought at 23.1 MW it was much larger. The plant is located in the town of Ma’an. It was constructed by Enerray Spa, an Italian EPC company, while Energoya provided mechanical construction services and ancillary works for the same.

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. While there are government tenders (see Jordan Opens Tender Round 3), there is also a lot of activity in the segment for captive use of solar power.