Jordan?s Tafileh Wind Farm has begun operating commercially, announced the country?s National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and the Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC)
The Tafileh Wind Farm is the first and largest utility-scale operational wind farm in the country. It comprises 38 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of approximately three megawatts. Each turbine is approximately 150 metres in height, and weighs around 200 tonnes.
The plant is operating at its full capacity of 117MW and will produce 400GW/hour of power every year.
NEPCO director general Abdul Fattah Daradkeh said, ?The Tafileh Wind Farm has fulfilled all contractual and legal requirements in accordance with the deadlines and contracts agreed upon, and has begun providing electricity generated by renewable wind power to the national electric grid, thus making this project the first of its kind.?
The project is worth US$$287mn and will account for three per cent of the total energy being produced in Jordan. The project is also expected to reduce Jordan?s carbon emissions significantly.
JWPC?s partners include InfraMed Infrastructure Fund, UAE-based Masdar Power, and EP Global Energy of Cyprus. Funds were arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), while participants in the lender syndicate included the Dutch Development Bank, Europe Arab Bank, and OPEC Fund for International Development, with the Export Credit Agency of Denmark providing a guarantee for a portion of the loans.
