Construction of first shale power plant to start in June

AMMAN — The construction of a $2.2 billion power plant, Jordan's first to be fuelled by oil shale, is set to start in June, according to a government official.

The Attarat Power Company (APCO) is in the process of securing the remaining finance needed for starting construction on the facility, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ibrahim Saif told The Jordan Times this week.

APCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enefit Jordan BV, which is itself owned by Enefit (Estonia’s Eesti Energia AS), Malaysia’s YTL Power International Berhad and Jordan’s Near East Investments Limited.

“By the end of May, the consortium is expected to secure the remaining funds for the project and then in early June we expect construction on the power plant to start,” Saif said.

“This project is part of the government’s efforts to diversify its energy resources through utilising the country’s reserves of oil shale,” he added.

In January, the consortium signed a $1.6 billion agreement for the funding of Jordan's first oil shale-fired power plant, which will be built in the Attarat area with a total capacity of 470 megawatts. 

The agreement was concluded between the conglomerate and the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The plant is expected to be operational in 2019.

The initial financing agreement was signed when His Majesty King Abdullah visited China last year. 

According to official figures, Jordan has vast reserves of oil shale estimated at more than 70 billion tonnes.