LOC22:23
19:23 GMT
AMMAN, Oct 1 (KUNA) -- The Jordanian government and Enefit Jordan Attarat Power Company (APCO), an affiliate of Estonia Enefit Corp., signed Wednesday an agreement to build a shale oil fired power station at a capacity of 470 megawatt.
The USD 2.2 billion-worth deal was inked here by Jordanian Minister of Energy Mohammad Hamed and APCO's Chairman Andres Anijalg in the presence of Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.
Speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony, Hamed said the project is located 50 kilometers east of the village of Al Qatrana or 70 kilometers to the south of Amman by the main desert highway between Amman and Aqaba.
"It will be developed by a consortium involving Enefit (officially known as Eesti Energia Technology Industries), the Jordanian Near East Co., and a Malaysian company.
"It will be implemented over two stages with the first lasting for 38 months and the second 42 months," the minister said, highlighting the importance of the project in meeting the country's growing need of energy.
Jordan imports 96 percent of its energy consumption, which costs the country up to 20 percent of its GDP.
The new power project will substitute more expensive methods of electricity generation and shale oil will replace liquid fuels.
On April 30, 2008, the Jordanian government and Enefit signed a Development Agreement under which Enefit was granted the exclusive right to develop, design, finance, construct and operate a 550 MW shale-fired power station.
Shale oil deposits underlie more than 70 percent of Jordanian territory, with the total resources amounting to 31 billion tons. (end)
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