Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC) has signed a $290m deal to build the Tafila wind farm, which will be the first utility-scale wind power plant in the Middle East, bringing the project to financial close.

The scheme is the first to be developed under Jordan’s Renewable and Energy Efficiency law, introduced in 2010, which requires the country to generate 7 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2015. This target increases to 10 per cent by 2020.

The project financing was provided by a group of international commercial and development banks including the Washington-based IFC, the European Investment Bank, Denmark’s Eksport Kredit Fondon, the Opec Fund for International Development, Dutch bank FMO, Europe Arab Bank (a subsidiary of Jordan’s Arab Bank) and the Capital Bank of Jordan.

JWPC, the project’s sponsor, comprises of investment vehicle InfraMed, which holds a 50 per cent stake, and Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, which holds a 31 per cent stake. EP Global Energy, a development firm owned by Cyrus’ Paraskevaides Group, holds a 19 per cent stake.

InfraMed is one of the largest investment vehicles dedicated to infrastructure projects in the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Egypt-headquartered EFG Hermes advises the vehicle and is one of the sponsors that contributed to the €385m ($521m) required to set up the fund.

The 117MW wind farm is expected to increase the country’s total power capacity by 3 per cent.

The plant is due to start delivering power in 2014, with full commercial operations due to start in 2015. It will produce about 400 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity a year.