Mott MacDonald provides technical advisory to solar project in Jordan
A 50 MW solar power project, located in Mafraq, Jordan, recently reached financial close. Mott MacDonald provided technical advisor to the International Finance Corporation.The project, which is the first in a number of similar projects, reduces the country's carbon footprint.
As part of Jordan’s solar independent power producer initiative, the country is investing in four renewable energy schemes whose total contribution will add around 1,600 MW of renewable energy to the country’s grid by 2020. One of the projects, the ‘Sunrise’ 50 MW photovoltaic power plant in Mafraq, is set to reduce the country’s carbon foot-print by 80,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to the removal of 17,000 cars from the country’s roads. The location offers approximately 3435 hours of sunshine per year.
The Sunrise project, whose investment value stands at $76 million, recently achieved financial close. Mott MacDonald acted as technical advisor to the International Finance Corporation for the project. The firm’s role throughout the financial stage of the project, included technical, environmental and social due diligence. The firm’s services will be retained, tasked with ongoing monitoring of the construction and operation of the plant.
About the project, which is scheduled to be connected to the country’s grid in the second quarter of 2018, Mott MacDonald Project Director Viktor Lempesis says, “This project is a great achievement for Jordan, boosting renewable energy investments in the oil-importing country. Our assessments were based on our regional and international experience in similar assignments, including other solar projects in Jordan. We were able to highlight risks that could have affected the project’s progress and offered advice on methods for mitigating these.”
