Dubai-based Adenium Energy Capital has reached financial close on four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Jordan.

The financing is worth $160m, and covers the development of Jordan Solar One, Al Ward Al Joury, Zahrat Al Salam and Al Zanbaq.

The final deadline to secure financing was 31 May 2015. It was delayed from early 2015.

The four projects form part of Jordan’s first round of feed-in tariff renewables projects.

Twenty-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the solar PV projects were signed in mid-2014 with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company (NEPCO).

The Jordan Solar One project is located in the northern region of Mafraq and has a capacity of 20MW. The Zahrat Al Salam, Al Ward Al Joury and Al Zanbaq projects are in the southern region of Ma’an, and have capacities of 10MW each.

Round one of the programme includes 12 solar PV schemes, thought to be worth between $30m to $70m each. Adenium is developing four of seven of projects that form part of a $207.5m portfolio fund led by Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) and agreed in late 2014.

IFC will provide loans worth $91.5m. Another $116m will be provided by Bahrain’s Arab Bank, the UK-based Europe Arab Bank, the Dutch development bank FMO, Finland’s FinnFund, and OPEC’s Fund for International Development.

IFC was also lead arranger.

“Prior to the launch in May 2011 of Jordan’s first round of direct proposals for renewable energy, no Middle Eastern government had a framework to procure renewable energy independent power projects,” said Marc Norman, at US law-firm Chadbourne & Parke, which represented Adenium in the deal. 

“Over the past few years, the Jordanian government, the round one developers and financiers worked extremely hard together to successfully finance these projects - and the bankable model that they painstakingly crafted will now serve as a blueprint for the region.”