Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power is set to sign a contract to develop a 485MW independent power project (IPP) in Jordan.

According to sources within the kingdom’s power sector, the Saudi developer is set to sign the contract to develop the plant by the end of 2015. The project has an estimated cost of about $480m, and the plant will run primarily on natural gas.

China’s Sepco 3 will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the project, according to sources close to the scheme.

The power plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, and will replace the Hussein power plant in the port of Aqaba.

The project will be Acwa’s first major thermal power project in Jordan. In June 2011, the Saudi firm acquired the majority stake in Jordan’s Central Electricity Generating Company (Cegco), Jordan’s main producer of electricity.

MEED recently reported that a consortium led by Spain’s TSK and the UAE’s Enviromena Power Systems had been awarded a contract to build a 103MW solar power plant in Jordan, as part of the kingdom’s efforts to boost capacity to meet rising demand.

The $128m photovoltaic (PV) solar plant will be located in the southern region of Jordan’s Al-Queira region.

The solar project is part of Jordan’s plans to add 600MW of additional solar power to the grid in 2016.