Jordan to ease energy imports by building new power plant

Jordan is to build a new power plant that will generate about 12 percent of the country's electricity needs, the state-run Petra news agency reported Monday.

The 500-million-U.S.-dollar power plant with a capacity of 485 megawatts will replace the Hussein Thermal Power plant in Aqaba, the country's only coastal city on the Red Sea, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said Monday after signing a deal with Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power to implement the project.

Jordan is going ahead with plans for several power plants to increase its capacity and meet rising demand on electricity, the premier said, adding that Jordan has signed agreements on energy projects worth some two billion dollars.

Jordan, which imports about 97 percent of its energy needs annually, is trying to reduce the imports to 60 percent by relying on local resources including oil shale and renewable energy projects. Endit