Abu Dhabi’s Masdar seals $188m funding for Jordan solar project

Abu Dhabi’s Future Energy Company (Masdar) has completed a $188m financing package for the largest solar power plant in Jordan, it said on Wednesday.

The Baynouna Solar Energy Company (BSEC) is a Masdar-led project to develop Jordan’s largest solar power plant on behalf of the state utility National Electric Power Company. The Finnish investment company, Taaleri Group, took a 30 per cent stake in BSEC, it said last week.

Funding for the 200 megawatt (MW) Baynouna solar project was arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The financing package includes a $54m loan from the IFC and $134m from other senior lenders, including a parallel loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) , IFC said in a statement.

Other lenders included Dutch Development bank FMO and Europe Arab Bank as well as the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and German development bank DEG.

“Together, we have reached an important milestone with the financial close and are ready to begin construction of the largest solar power plant in Jordan,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive of Masdar.

“With backing now secured from lenders in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, the global interest in commercial renewable energy in Jordan is clear.”

Project completion is scheduled for the second quarter of 2020 and it will supply power to some 110,000 homes while displacing 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, the statement from Masdar said, adding it will meet three percent of Jordan’s annual power consumption.

Baynouna is Masdar’s second major renewable energy project in Jordan after the 117 MW Tafila wind farm inaugurated in December 2015.

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned green energy firm Masdar has so far invested $8.5bn in renewable energy projects in the UAE and other countries.