UAE-headquartered global renewable energy company Masdar announced on Saturday the formal inauguration of the 200-megawatt (MW) Baynouna Solar Park, the largest clean energy project in Jordan

The project, which started initial operations in 2020, has been co-developed with Finnish investment and asset management group Taaleri.

The Baynouna Solar Park  produces over 560 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy annually, enough to power 160,000 homes, while displacing 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, Masdar said in a press statement.

"Along with our other project here – the Tafila Wind Farm – Masdar is already helping Jordan to produce 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and will support its goal of increasing that to 50 percent by the end of the decade," said Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate, and Chairman of Masdar.

Financial institutions that supported the Baynouna project include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the KfW Group's DEG, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The project is backed by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) between Masdar and National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), Jordan's state electricity provider.

The 117 MW Tafila Wind Farm - which was completed in 2015 - is the first commercial utility-scale wind project in the Middle East.

In November 2022, Masdar had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to explore the development of a further 2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects in the country.

Last week, Masdar announced strategic investment in Indonesia-based Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), one of the world's largest geothermal players. PGE has set a development target of 600 MW in additional installed capacity over the next five years to support Indonesia's renewable energy mix.

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)