Estonian company sells majority of stake in shale oil power plant

AMMAN — Estonia’s Eesti Energia signed an agreement to sell the majority of its stake in Jordan’s first $2.2 billion power plant to be fuelled by oil shale.

Under an agreement it signed and announced on its website over the weekend, Eesti Energia sold 45 per cent of its stake in the project to Yudean Group, while Malaysia’s YTL Power International Berhad increased its stake from 35 per cent to 45 per cent and Jordan’s Near East Investments Limited exited the project.

After this agreement, Eesti Energia will only own 10 per cent of the project, according to a statement posted by the Estonian company.

Earlier this year, the project’s owners signed agreements with the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to provide debt funding for the 554 megawatts project. The $1.6 billion debt financing will be provided on the basis of support by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). 

The sponsors continue working on a number of condition precedents before full financial close can be achieved, including receiving final approvals for the export credit insurance from Sinosure and the government of China. The power plant is scheduled to start generating electricity for local consumption in 2019.

“We are happy that Jordan is about to start utilising its abundant energy resource. We are one step closer towards establishing Jordan´s first oil shale-fired power plant. We now hope to get final approvals for the loan guarantees from Sinosure and Chinese Government in order to finally conclude the financing and proceed with construction,” Hando Sutter, chairman of the Management Board of Eesti Energia, said in the statement.

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