The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) will provide a $25m loan for the development of a 20MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in Jordan.

The EBRD will assist with financing for the 20MW plant, which will be located 13km southeast of the city of Maan.

The power plant is being developed by a subsidiary of the US-based SunEdison. The EBRD loan will be supplemented by a $25m loan from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic). EBRD and Opic previously co-funded Jordan’s 240MW Al-Manakher power plant, which began operations in July 2014.

The project is part of Jordan’s efforts to diversify its power sources, with the country currently importing 97 of fuel for power generation. Amman is targeting for 10 per cent of its power requirements to be provided by renewable energy sources by 2020.

The US’ First Solar was recently awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build the 52.5MW Shams Maan photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant in Jordan.

The plant will be the country’s largest installed PV solar facility. It is expected to produce 160 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity a year, with capacity to power more than 35,000 homes. The renewable energy will cut down on about 90,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. This is equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road each year.