Jordan's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has announced the applicants of the tender round two, which has been under way since 2013 and concluded on February 10. The list is here and includes 33 applicants of a wide geographical scope.
Round two will consist of four 50 MW PV plants, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Mohammad Hamed has said. However, some of the successful applicants have told pv magazine that since round three was cancelled, there are rumours that round two might include 100 MW of additional auctioned capacity, thus two more projects of 50 MW each.
The ministry has six months after the February 10 deadline to reply and is expected to reduce the applicants at least by half by the end of the summer, the same sources said.
Proposals from all 33 bidders needed to describe the project in detail, including its capacity, location with coordinates being displayed on a map and contact with the relevant transmission or distribution grid company that confirms the suitability of grid to connect the project. Furthermore, they also needed to demonstrate bidders' technical experience in designing and building the project and their ability to raise debt and equity financing — bidders need to raise at least $10 million to participate.
Impressive PV progress
Tender round one consisted of 12 projects of various sizes totaling 200 MW while the third round, that was later cancelled, would have consisted of two PV plants of 100 MW capacity each.
All round one PV plants have received the $0.169 per kilowatt hour feed-in tariff, apart from a 52.5 MW project that received $0.148 per kWh. The majority of the round one projects are now under construction and expected to be electrified by the end of the year.
Jordan has impressed with its commitment to include a sizeable amount of solar PV power in its energy mix. The country aims to generate 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, including 600 MW of installed solar PV. Given Jordan's excellent solar resource, its photovoltaic target is somewhat moderate. Nevertheless, the country has been widely praised for its commitment to implement the set targets.
In addition to the utility-scale plants, Jordan's rooftop solar photovoltaic sector has also kick-started a successful market.
The January issue of pv magazine featured an in-depth examination of Jordans energy sector and analysed the key challenges for photovoltaic investors.
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