‘Over JD100m spent on supplying power to remote areas’

AMMAN — Jordan has spent more than JD100 million to supply houses in remote areas with electricity, the government said Sunday.

Projects to supply houses in remote areas and in the Badia region with a population of 511,000 have been implemented recently at a total cost of JD102.3 million, Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif told The Jordan Times.

The projects were implemented through money generated from fees in electricity bills known as “Fils Al Reef”.

Saif added that the ministry is working on a plan to utilise renewable energy resources to supply electricity to remote areas.

Jordan, which imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs, is implementing a series of projects in the field of renewable energy. 

In Jordan, the annual daily average of solar irradiance ranges from 5 to 7 kilowatt hours per square metre, almost twice the ratio in Germany, which by mid-2015 generated 34 per cent of its electricity via renewable energy projects .

Despite that, renewable energy projects in Jordan contribute 3-4 per cent to the national electricity grid and the figure is scheduled to reach 10 per cent by 2020.