Energy Ministry, 11 Aqaba-based hotels sign MoU on energy conservation

AMMAN — The Energy Ministry on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 11 Aqaba-based hotels within its JD3-million hotel support programme to enable them to implement energy conservation and rationalisation projects.

The MoU was signed by Energy Minister and  Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF) Saleh Kharabsheh, and representatives of hotels participating in the Tourism Sector Energy Efficiency Programme, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The first phase of the programme will cost an estimated JD1.25 million to be distributed between the JREEEF and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA).

Kharabsheh, in a press statement after the signing, stressed the importance of the programmes implemented by JREEEF in achieving its goals, which align with the objectives of the National Plan for Energy Efficiency, including reducing hotels’ energy consumption, increasing their competitiveness and improving the quality of their services. 

The minister commended the importance of the partnership between the ministry and ASEZA in implementing the project within the recently launched National Plan for Energy Efficiency. 

Kharabsheh indicated that the fund implemented a project to support the energy consumption rationalisation programme in hotels in Petra, which resulted in reducing the energy bill in the targeted hotels by 60 per cent.

ASEZA President Nayef Fayez stressed the importance of implementing the project in partnership with JREEEF, in light of the great challenges that Aqaba hotels face, including high electricity bills, underscoring commitment to continuing cooperation with the fund.

Elaborating further on the project, Rasmi Hamza, executive director of the JREEEF, said that the total cost of the project amounts to JD3 million, which will be dispersed in three phases, pointing out that the project is the first of its kind to be financed according to the Energy Service Companies (ESCos) system in the Kingdom, which is an internationally approved method that follows the best global environmental and financial practices.

The programme is implemented under the supervision of the fund, which offers hotels a grant from the fund and authority, in addition to a grant for the implementation of energy audit assessments by specialised companies funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

These projects will save hotels some JD250,000 in operational costs annually and 760 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Director of Environment and Climate Change Programmes at UNDP Nidal Ouran stressed the importance of a joint approach to work with the fund by providing support for the implementation of the project to enable Aqaba hotels to increase the volume of their investments, and rationalise energy.

UNDP had provided a JD100,000 grant to implement detailed energy audit assessments for the 11 hotels participating in the project in partnership with the JREEEF, Petra added.