Jordan’s increased electricity consumption ‘to benefit economic growth’

AMMAN — The increase of electricity consumption positively affects the economic growth in the long term, a study by the Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) on the power consumption in the Kingdom revealed on Monday.

The study, titled “Economics of Energy and Electricity Consumption: How and Why Should We Care?”, addressed the volume of electricity consumption in Jordan between 1992 and 2017, primary energy resources used in generating power, the percentage of each in the overall energy consumption, as well as the effect of power consumption on the economic growth.

In the study, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times, JSF called for "serious consideration" of energy issues in Jordan, due to their importance and strategic effects on the country.

Jordan’s primary energy consumption has increased from 3,605 tonnes in 1992 to more than 10,009 tonnes by the end of 2017, according to the study.

Jordan relies heavily on oil and gas in its primary energy consumption, where the percentages in 2017 stood at 56.7 and 35.1 per cent in 2017. 

The study highlighted the "encouraging fact" that the proportion of renewable energy in the consumed primary energy has been increasing, exceeding 5 per cent of the total by the end of 2017.

Jordan’s electricity consumption has increased from 877 gigawatts per hour in 1980 to 17,574 by the end of 2017. 

During the period 2014-2017, households accounted for about 44 per cent of the total consumption, the industrial sector consumed 23.8 per cent, while 2.1 per cent was used for street lightening.

Meanwhile, the study showed that the cost of consumed energy to total imports and to GDP in 2017 were equal to 16.8 and 8.3 per cent respectively, compared with 17.5 and 9.5 per cent in 2015. 

Geographically, Middle Eastern countries are “unique” in their reliance on oil in the generation of electricity.

Indeed, the study showed that 26.1 per cent of the Middle East electricity consumption is fuelled by oil, a much higher proportion than in all other regions of the world. Africa, which ranked second on the list, stands at 9.8 per cent, according to the study.

On average, the Middle East relies more on natural gas in the generation of its consumed electricity than other regions, using gas to generate 69.3 per cent of its power needs, followed by the Commonwealth of Independent States with 44.9 per cent.

In 2017, coal and natural gas accounted for about 38 and 23 per cent of the global electricity consumption respectively. Oil, on the other hand, accounted for only 3.5 per cent of total electricity consumption, the study concluded.