Jordan’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (MEMR) has cancelled the third round of its direct proposal renewable energy programme, after inviting developers to submit expressions of interest (EoIs) in February.

The third round of the renewable energy programme was the largest planned, with the MEMR having increased the capacity of proposed solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to 100MW, from the maximum of 50MW for PV facilities in the second round. The cancellation of the third round is regarded as a blow for the region’s renewable energy sector, with many governments in the region looking to Jordan to create a blueprint for developing renewable energy on a large scale.

The MEMR has also postponed submissions for the second round to 31 December from 30 September.

The cancellation of the latest round has provoked a mixed reaction from companies participating in Jordan’s renewable energy programme.

“Opinion is divided. Some feel the cancellation of the third round will allow the government to focus on the second round, while others are worried the second round may end up going the same way as the third,” says a source involved with financing some of the schemes.

While the ministry has not provided any information on why the round was cancelled, some involved with the programme have highlighted capacity constraints for both clients and the country’s electricity grid as possible explanations.

“There is the human capacity element – whether both the MEMR and [the local] Nepco [National Electric Power Company] were capable of delivering three rounds simultaneously, and also grid capacity,” explains the source close to the programme.

For the second round, the locations selected for the schemes were in the north and east of the country, with concerns that the grid in the south of the country was already becoming saturated and incapable of handling large renewable power additions.

For the second round of the programme, the ministry has prequalified 47 EoIs, 24 of those conditionally, for solar schemes and six firms, two of those conditionally, for wind energy projects.

For the first round, 12 PV solar schemes were approved in the first quarter of this year, with the initial stage having suffered several delays. Despite a deadline of the end of 2013 for all of the first-round projects to be signed off, the first power purchase agreement (PPA) was only signed off in the first week of 2014, for a 1MW PV solar plant for the local Maan Development Company. To date, 12 PV solar schemes have been approved.

Under the direct proposal programme, applicants, which can be single companies or joint ventures, submit proposals for the wind and solar projects, which will be implemented on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis. Applicants selected by the government will receive a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which will allow them to proceed with feasibility studies and measurement programmes