Elaborate strategies in pipeline to strengthen energy security — Zawati

AMMAN — Despite scarce natural resources, the Kingdom is moving forward towards sustainable economic growth transforming challenges into opportunities, according to Energy Minister Hala Zawati.

“In accordance with a clear and well-defined strategy, Jordan works to strengthen its energy security through developing elaborate policies and strategies in cooperation with the relevant partners,” Zawati told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

Zawati said that the 2020-2030 comprehensive energy strategy was developed based on four major themes: Energy supply security, energy availability at an affordable price, energy sustainability, and increased energy reliance on local resources.  The strategy aims to enhance the Kingdom’s energy independence and meet the growing demand, contributing to sustainable development objectives, she said. 

Moreover, the strategy attempts to diversify Jordan’s energy sources, increase the contribution of renewable energies to the total energy mix, improve the efficient use of energy in all sectors, reduce energy costs, and further develop the Kingdom’s energy sector “to turn it into a regional hub for energy exchange”, Zawati added.

“To achieve those objectives, the Kingdom has implemented the scenarios of self-reliance,” according to Zawati who noted that Jordan would rely more on local sources of energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to the overall enhancement of energy efficiency.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has prepared a detailed operational plan involving a number of programmes in various sectors including electricity, oil, and natural gas, the minister noted.

In the area of electric power, the ministry works on diversifying electrical generation sources by increasing the contribution from renewable energy and oil shale in electricity generation, to account for 31 and 15 per cent, respectively, by 2030, Zawati explained. 

Furthermore, Zawati noted that “the ministry will work on diversifying the domestic sources of crude oil, by developing the production in the Hamza oil field, in addition to presenting investment opportunities for international companies to invest in oil and oil shale exploitation,” She noted that investment opportunities would also be offered with regard to gas exploitation.

Recognising the economic and environmental necessity of going green, the Ministry of Environment launched the Green Growth National Action Plan 2021-2025 (GG-NAP) in 2020, with the support of Global Green Growth Institute, targeting key green growth sectors including agriculture, energy, waste, water, tourism and transport. With regard to the energy sector, the GG-NAP aims to make green growth objectives mainstream in the sector’s policies and investments.

“Jordan has achieved significant success in the field of renewable energy implementation, attracting over $5 billion in investment in the sector, and exceeding expectations in terms of renewables’ contribution to the energy mix,” according to the GG-NAP.

The Oil & Gas Exploration Opportunities in Jordan Report states that the Hamza oil field and the Risha gas field are the only two functional petroleum systems in Jordan. 

The cumulative production from the Hamza Oil Field has reached about one million barrels since the start of operations, on the other hand, the average daily production from the Risha gas field is 27 million cubic feet as of the end of 2020, the report said.