Page 12 - MEOG Week 22 2021
P. 12
MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
Jordan launches first phase of
world’s largest oil shale power plant
JORDAN A Chinese contractor on Jordan’s Attarat minimum linkage to the global oil price. Mean-
um Ghudran oil shale power plant last week while, the APSO JV is assuming all risk relating
announced that the facility’s first unit is now to the supply of fuel and water.
online. Despite the environmental challenges of tap-
State-owned China Energy Engineering ping oil shales, Jordan has remained bullish and
Corp. (CEEC) tweeted that the first of two 235- Energy Minister Hala Zawati has spoken of its
MW units “was synchronised with the national potential to help diversify the kingdom’s electric-
grid” on May 26. The company noted that it is ity supply.
the world’s largest oil shale power plant and it has She anticipates renewable energy – almost
now reached 96% completion. exclusively solar – and oil shale to account for
CEEC is the engineering, procurement 31% and 15% respectively of Jordan’s total elec-
and construction (EPC) contractor for Attarat tricity generation by 2030, though the oil shale
Power Co. (APCO), a joint venture (JV) between figure is notably the same as the target that had
Malaysia’s YTL Power International (45%), Chi- previously been given for 2020.
na’s Guangdong Yudean Group (45%) and Esto- That 470-MW APCO plant will be the first
nia’s Enefit (10%). oil shale-fired electricity generation facility in the
The $2.1bn project includes an opencast mine Middle East when it is complete. It is expected
and will generate 3.7bn kWh, enough to meet to consume around 10mn tonnes (73mn bar-
almost 20% of Jordan’s electricity demand. rels) per year of oil shale, which can be burned
CEEC noted that the project “has adopted directly for electricity generation.
an advanced oil shale circulating fluidised bed According to various domestic and foreign
boiler, over 70% of which is made [in] China”. studies, oil shale reserves lie beneath at least
According to APCO, the plant will supply 70% of Jordan’s entire territory, translating into
power to Amman’s National Electric Power around 31bn tonnes (227bn barrels) of oil, put-
Co. (NEPCO) under a 30-year power purchase ting Jordan among the top 10 largest oil shale
agreement (PPA) with a competitive tariff and holders in the world.
P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 02•June•2021
