AL JAZEERA (24/7/2020)
Jordan is often described as “resource-poor” due to its lack of fossil fuels, limited agricultural land and water scarcity. But with more than 310 days of sun a year, strong winds and vast desert lands, the kingdom’s potential for renewable energy is among the most promising in the world.
Over the last decade, Jordan has been steadily unlocking that potential, with investment in solar and wind energy growing exponentially as the country tries to reduce its reliance on imported oil and gas.
Earlier this year, Jordan’s permanent representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency said the kingdom has managed to attract more than $5bn in clean energy investments, and that renewables now account for 15 percent of the country’s electricity generation.
And it is not just energy security that is at stake. Advocates believe investments in solar and wind could play a pivotal role in helping Jordan from the economic ravages of coronavirus. But an accelerated transition to renewables is being hampered, said some experts, by an unpopular deal to import fossil fuel from Israel.
In 2008, Jordan imported 96 percent of its energy, leaving it at the mercy of fluctuating fossil fuel prices. That dependence, combined with the fallout of the global financial crisis, prompted officials to start thinking seriously about developing renewables.
“Jordan decided to diversify its energy mix and started developing local resources,” Samer Zawaydeh, president of the Association of Energy Engineers and an expert on renewable energy told Al Jazeera.
In 2008, solar and wind were expensive options for generating electricity. But between 2009 and 2012, utility-scale average photovoltaic solar costs globally fell 66 percent, according to a study by Lazard.
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/solar-energy-revive-jordan-virus-hit-economy-200723233849571.html