Jordan Solar One

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Jordan Solar One (JSO or “the Developer”) is a 20 megawatt (MW) solar PV power plant located in Al Mafraq, which lies 50 kilometers (km) north of the Jordanian capital, Amman (“the Project”). The project also comprises the construction of a 13 km 33 kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting to Al Hassan substation. The project is part of the Government of Jordan’s Renewable Energy Program, which aims to increase renewable energy contribution to 10 percent of the country’s generation mix by 2020. All output generated by the project will be sold to Jordan’s National Electric Power Company (“NEPCO”) under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed in March 2014. The total project cost is estimated at US$57 million with a proposed IFC loan of approximately US$14.3 million from IFC’s own account and a syndication of up to US$28.5 million.The project will consist of a total of 69,680 PV panels with peak capacity of 21.601MWdc. Power will be sent to an inverter, which will then be fed into the utility power grid system through Al-Hassan substation managed by the NEPCO. The Transmission Connection Agreement (TCA) was signed with NEPCO in May 2014. Project procurement and construction will take place between October 2014 to June 2015, and the project will be operational for a 20-year period. The project proposed site is located within the Husha and Hamra municipalities in the Mafraq governorate, which is located in the far north of Jordan, near to the border with Syria. The project site occupies an area of approximately 63.4 hectares (ha), not including the transmission line. At the western edge of the project site is the Mafraq-Irbid road, and various productive facilities are located on neighboring lands, such as a poultry farm and a sponge manufacturing plant. The closest settlements are as follows: Husha Village (circa 3000 inhabitants), located approximately 1.6 kilometers (km) to the north of the project site; Fa`A Village (circa 5000 inhabitants), located approximately 2 km to the southwest; Hamra Village (circa 9500 inhabitants), located approximately 5 km to the east; Mesherfeh Village (circa 500 inhabitants), located approximately 6 km to the northeast; and, Mansoura Village (circa 3500 inhabitants), located approximately 6 km to the southeast. The Zaatari Syrian refugee camp is located 10 km east of the city of Mafraq, approximately 20km from the project site; the camp population is estimated at 81,000 refugees.The transmission line is located in the Husha municipality in the Mafraq governorate and the Buwaida municipality of the Irbid governorate; it will cross through the town of Buwayda, located approximately 7 km from the project site. The transmission line is currently planned to be approximately 13 km in length (10 km overhead and 3 km underground). The transmission line right-of-way (ROW) will be identified under the supervision of NEPCO.