‘Solar energy to cover electricity needs of detached homes in poverty pockets’

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved delivering electricity to single-detached dwellings in poverty pockets using solar power units, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The solar power units will not be part of the electricity grid and will cost a maximum of JD6,000 for each house. 

The decision will reduce financial burdens for the public, and the service will be limited to poverty pockets after coordinating with the Social Development Ministry before installing each unit, Petra said. 

Jordan, which currently imports 97 per cent of its energy needs annually, has signed several agreements for renewable energy projects. 

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, several projects are implemented or under implementation, and by 2020, Jordan will have solar and wind power projects with a total capacity of 1,600 megawatts.

Currently, renewable energy contributes to 3-4 per cent of the national electricity grid and the figure is scheduled to reach 10 per cent by 2020.

In Jordan, the annual daily average of solar irradiance ranges between 5-7 kilowatt-hours per square metre, which is almost twice the ratio in Germany, which by mid-2015 generated 34 per cent of its electricity via renewable energy projects. 

The wind speed in some areas in Jordan can reach up to 10 metres per second.