The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a $95mn loan for the construction of a 485 MW modern gas-fired power plant in Jordan costing $460mn.
The loan - billed as reducing emissions by the bank -- will be provided to a Jordanian firm that is 60%-owned by the Saudi developer ACWA Power -- which a few days ago committed to building a giant coal-fired plant in Dubai.
The new Zarqa combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Jordan, 40km northeast of the capital Amman, will replace an obsolete oil-fired plant at the same site and be twice as efficient and cut emissions. It is needed to stabilise the Jordanian grid as older plants are decommissioned and as demand increases.
