Saudi developer Abdul Latif Jameel will develop a third project under the second round of Jordan’s renewable energy direct proposal programme, with the group set to acquire Saudi Oger’s planned 50MW solar project.

MEED first reported in 2016 that the project owned by Saudi Oger was seeking buyers, and according to sources close to the scheme Abdul Latif Jameel will acquire the 50MW photovoltaic (PV) solar project from Saudi Oger. Saudi Oger is currently facing a number of financial difficulties.

Jordan’s Ministry of Minerals and Renewables (MEMR) received 24 bids for the second round of its feed-in tariff renewables programme in May 2015, and subsequently awarded contracts and signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with four groups for 50MW photovoltaic (PV) solar projects.

The successful bidders were:

• Acwa Power (Acwa Power acquired Sunrise Solar Energy) – 4.34 JDcents a kilowatt hour (kWh) (6.13 $cents a kWh)
•  Saudi Oger (Saudi Arabia) – 4.598 JDcents a kWh
•  Abdul Latif Jameel Energy/FRV – 4.895 JDcents a kWh
• Abdul Latif Jameel Energy/FRV / Hareon Swiss Holding – 5.43 JDcents a kWh

If successful, the project would be the second of the four second round schemes to be acquired following the bidding. Acwa Power acquired Sunrise Solar Energy, the group which had submitted the lowest tariff in the second round, in the first quarter of 2016. Sunrise Solar Energy had signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) and connection transmission agreement (CTA) with Jordan’s National Electricity Production Company (Nepco) on 20 January 2016.

MEED recently reported that Abdul Latif Jameel Energy had reached financial close for two of the second round solar plants, which will both le located in Mafraq and have a combined generation capacity of 133.4MW.

Construction work will begin soon on the two plants, called Mafraq 1 and Mafraq 2. The solar projects will have a combined value of $180m. The plants will supply power to the grid for tariffs of 6.9 $cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) and 7.6 $cents per kWh.

The Mafraq 1 plant has received a financing package from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, as part of Jordan’s programme to promote renewable energy. The Mafraq 1 project will also receive financing from the Dutch Development Bank (FMO), the Europe Arab Bank, Finnish development entity FinnFund and the IFC-Canadam Climate Change programme.

The Mafraq 2 project has secured financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Society for Promotion and Participation for Economic Cooperation (Proparco)