ACWA Zarqa Thermal Power Station

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Project Description On December 21, 2016, MIGA issued a guarantee of US$215.6 million covering non-shareholder loan facility from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) and China Commercial Bank for the Al Zarqa Power Plant for Energy Generation PSC (APZ) in Jordan. The US$215.6 guarantee will cover principal and interest for a period of up to 20 years against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, breach of contract, and war and civil disturbance. The project involves the design, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of a combined cycle dual fuel thermal power generating facility (APZ) with a net installed capacity of 485 megawatt in Zarqa Governorate of Jordan. The project will be located approximately four km northeast of Zarqa city and 40 km northeast of the capital city of Amman.  It will replace a 363 megawatt power plant, the Hussein Thermal Power Station (HTPS), which was in operation for over 30 years until it was decommissioned in December 2015. Environmental Categorization The Project is category A under MIGA's Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. Click here to view the Environmental and Social Review Summary prepared by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for their investment in the project. Development Impact The Project will (i) help increase power generation capacity in Jordan and address the growing demand for power by generating a gross average of 3,200 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per annum, serving approximately 620,000 individual residential customers annually based on a per capita consumption of 2,350 kWh5; (ii) be operated on RLNG and have a lower tariff than the most recent IPPs that were awarded in Jordan; (iii) replace about 8 percent of gross baseload generation capacity in the country due to the decommissioning of HTPS, and add approximately 150MW of capacity; (iv) help preserve the jobs of about 50 employees who would otherwise have to be made redundant following the HTPS retirement; (v) have a positive climate impact by substituting HTPS, one of the oldest and most inefficient heavy fuel oil (HFO)-fired power plants in Jordan, with a more efficient, environmentally friendlier source of electricity.

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