Norway’s Scatec Solar and its local partners have signed agreements to develop solar projects worth a total of $100m to develop three plants in Jordan.

Scatec Solar, in partnership with the local Quest Energy Investment, European Jordanian Renewable Energy Projects and Greenland Alternative Energy, will build, operate and maintain the three plants, which will have a combined capacity of 43MW.

Scatec will have a 70 per cent stake in the 10MW Oryx facility and hold 40 per cent in the other two plants, which will have a total capacity of 33MW. The projects are scheduled for completion in the second half of 2015.

The three plants are expected to have an annual production of 104,000 megawatt hours (MWh), which is forecast to equate to revenues of $17m a year. The consortium has signed a 20-year offtake agreement with National Electric Power Company (Nepco). All three facilities will be located in the area near Maan City in southern Jordan.

The projects are part of Jordan’s efforts to integrate renewable energy into its power generation sector. In early 2014, 12 photovoltaic (PV) solar schemes were approved for the first round of the country’s direct proposal renewable energy programme.

While the signing of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the first phase was hailed as progress, the subsequent delay of the second direct proposal round and the cancellation of the third round is evidence that Amman still has a long way to go to achieve its ambitious target of renewable energy accounting for 14 cent of total power supply by 2020.

The Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (MEMR) is also pressing ahead with tendering renewable energy projects as standard engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. The MEMR recently invited companies to prequalify for the contract to build the Quweira solar plant.

This is the second time the prequalification process has been conducted, with companies first invited to prequalify in 2013. Contractors have until 4 December to submit prequalification entries for the EPC contract for the 65-75MW PV solar plant.