Jordan has put forth great interest in developing its renewable energy sector. The country focuses on solar energy to expand its resources, leveraging its desert terrain that provides ten months of consistent sunshine every year. Other renewable resource in Jordan include bioenergy, hydropower, and geothermal.
Significant Development in a Short Period
Since 2014, the kingdom has implemented solar and wind energy development to approximately 1,500 megawatts, alongside over USD 5 billion investment to the sector. The country has gone a significant length to make renewable energy 20 percent of Jordan's share of electricity last year.
Today, the renewable energy initiatives in Jordan has gathered more than 600 companies backed by supportive regulatory frameworks and synergy within the supply chain. The growing number of renewable energy players in the country are instrumental to job opportunities provision, inviting all layers of the labor force to contribute to the industry. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has reported a forecast of 40 million new jobs in the industry by 2025. The increase in job employment would go beyond the renewable energy sector. Instead, new opportunities arise in various sectors correlating to renewables development, such as engineering, financial services, and design.
Aligning the Energy Strategy 2020-2030
The development of the renewable energy sector aligns with the kingdom's recently issued Energy Strategy 2020-2030, where the government plans to establish a strong partnership between public and private sectors and create networks with international partners to pave the pillar of Jordan's industry. The industry's rapid growth was due to the government's policies that encourage renewable energy technology deployments, including but not limited to solar photovoltaic and onshore wind. Through the Energy Strategy 2020-2030, Jordan's government aims for a 31 percent share of renewables in its total electricity generation by 2030.
Jordan is heading for energy security and a diverse supply of energy resources to prepare the country for a more sustainable future. The journey is supported by substantial cost reductions of renewable energy technologies over the recent years, allowing the government to pursue massive transformation in its energy sector.
Accessible Renewable Energy
However, the process of renewable energy exploration takes up to several years to its initial progress. Companies need to develop grid interconnection infrastructure, conduct a sector-specific environmental assessment, and ensure appropriate social impact from the project before acquiring the land and start making progress. In response to the long regime, the government is creating a standardization for land acquisition to ease private participation in the industry.
The government has also launched rooftop solar PV systems for residential consumers to increase the social impact. The residential project scaling would include reducing consumer energy expenditure and establishing government subsidy costs on electricity charges.
Other measures to achieve cost-accessible renewable energy are through local financing institutions and project developers. Currently, Jordan's local financial institutions have not been highly contributive to renewable energy financing. However, The Central Bank of Jordan is opening opportunities to collaborate with the Association of Banks to develop green lending capacity units in commercial institutions, eventually providing more access for citizens to utilize Jordan renewable energy in their daily lives.
