Cabinet approves energy saving project for vulnerable families

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Monday approved financing a project for energy rationalisation for underprivileged families to be covered by the 2018 budget of the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry and disbursed to the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund.

The project aims at alleviating financial burdens of underprivileged families’ energy bills by using alternative energy sources, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, adding that it also seeks to contribute to national efforts to reduce power consumption and raise awareness on the benefits of solar energy.

The project will be implemented in cooperation between the ministries of planning and international cooperation, social development and energy, and will target 8,232 families across the Kingdom.

The Planning and International Cooperation Ministry will help families cover 50 per cent of the cost of solar cells provided by JREEEF.

The scheme will be implemented through charity organisations, which will be picked by the Social Development Ministry, while beneficiary families will be chosen focusing on households that receive assistance from the National Aid Fund.

Other mechanisms will be adopted to guarantee targeting various areas in all governorates. 

Earlier this month, the government launched the second national plan to rationalise energy, which aims at lowering electricity consumption by 2,000 gigawatts between 2018 and 2020, with a cost of JD700 million.

The Energy Ministry implemented the first national plan on energy efficiency in 2014, under which it has lowered electric power consumption by 7.6 per cent, equivalent to 806 gigawatts.