Jordan’s clean energy sector attracts global investments — report

AMMAN — Jordan’s clean energy sector is witnessing “great momentum” and attracting world-renowned companies with decades of experience to invest in green technology projects in the Kingdom, a recent report indicated.

Jordan Clean Technology Sector Report 2016, released by EDAMA Association, showed that Jordan ranks second in the region for creating a favourable environment for renewable energy and energy efficiency investments, surpassed only by a thriving Tunisia, citing findings of the 2015 Arab Future Energy Index.

The report is the first of its kind to shed light on the country's clean technology sector, with information and statistics about the sector's progress and companies, according to EDAMA.

It indicated that Jordan is placing a heavy emphasis on solar and wind power projects, highlighting that energy is the backbone for every sector in the Jordanian economy.

"About 1,335 megawatts of wind and solar projects are currently under development in Jordan; 400 megawatts are currently operational," the report showed.

In addition to the project development opportunities announced by the government for centralised power generation, a “huge window of opportunity” to generate distributed electricity for individual, commercial or industrial use exists under the net-metering and/or the wheeling schemes, according to the report.

Net metering allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, while wheeling refers to the process of transmission of generated electricity through the transmission lines, according to web sources.

"Jordan leads the MENA region in net-metering and wheeling; out of the 370 megawatts applied for under the net-metering and wheeling schemes, 84 megawatts are installed," it indicated.

Underscoring the role of energy in the country’s economy, the report called for implementing smart energy solutions to provide economic gains in every sector.

Safa Jayoussi, the head of climate and energy campaigns at IndyACT and Climate Action Network’s Arab world coordinator, indicated that the clean technology sector in Jordan is booming.

“Jordan can easily become a regional hub for clean technologies; the number of companies operating in the sector is on the rise, in addition to the number of people working in clean technology ventures and companies,” Jayoussi told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

More individuals are seeking training on clean technology, while many people are applying it as a way of life out of their awareness of Jordan’s critical energy situation, she added.

The report indentifies clean technology as an industry that encompasses economically competitive and productive technologies that use less material and energy, generate less waste and cause less environmental damage than alternatives. Particularly, clean technology covers several sub-sectors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, water management and waste management.

“We are witnessing a trend in Jordan where clean technology is competing with fossil fuel,” the energy expert pointed out.

Hailing the government for adopting initiatives supporting the adoption of renewable energy at the individual, governmental and corporal levels, Jayoussi highlighted that the government should also address its changing policies governing renewable energy.

“Some investors are losing interest because the decisions regulating renewable energy investment in Jordan change frequently. There is an outstanding political will in Jordan to encourage the use of renewable energy, but it is only hampered when it comes to decision-making,” she noted.

The EDAMA report is made up of a qualitative overview of the clean tech sector and the enablers that allowed Jordan to become a destination for clean energy investments. It highlights the progress in the legislative and regulatory framework, workforce development, green financing mechanisms, new market opportunities and many others.

In the report, it is highlighted that more than 365 companies operate in the clean technology field, 86 per cent of which fall within the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.

The findings indicate that 82 per cent of the surveyed companies are fully owned by Jordanians. The report also showed that those businesses employ 12,913 people, 72 per cent of whom are either engineers or technicians.
Only 16 per cent of the sector’s employees are female, while 53 per cent are reported as engineers.
Out of the JD755 million revenues generated by renewable energy and energy efficiency companies in 2015, around 46 per cent came from professional, scientific and technical services, while a modest 11 per cent came from manufacturing activities.