Projected JD7m power station in Tafileh to prevent outages

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved establishing a power substation in Tafileh Governorate at a cost of JD7 million, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The new station is in line with measures the government is taking to prevent the recurrence of power outages that took place in the southern governorates, especially Tafileh — 180km southwest of Amman — during the recent blizzard that hit the Kingdom.

The 33/132 kilovolt transformer substation will be established by the National Electric Power Company near areas of heavy power load in Tafileh to contribute to finding a permanent solution for power cuts.

In parallel, the electricity distribution company will install 33-kilovolt ground cables to support power loads in Tafileh, Eis and Ain Al Baida areas.

In addition, a comprehensive technical study is being conducted to resolve power cuts in Karak’s Southern Mazar District and Maan’s Wadi Musa District, after solving the problem in Tafileh, Petra reported.

The main station project in Tafileh includes installing converters and high-capacity cells over a 10-dunum plot of land.

The station will also benefit from two adjacent renewable energy projects.

During February’s snowstorm, nearly 2,000 power cuts were recorded, the majority them in Tafileh, which witnessed heavy snowfall, particularly in the area of Rashadiyeh, according to the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission.

The electricity outages in Tafileh lasted for several hours due to severe weather conditions, as maintenance teams from the power company that supplies the south of the country could not reach some areas to fix the problem, the commission said at the time.

After the blizzard Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour urged government agencies to find a permanent solution for power cuts in Tafileh.