A Saudi Arabia-funded solar plant that will generate electricity for Jordan's King’s Academy has been inaugurated.
The plant was inaugurated by Jordan's HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II.
The 2.6MW solar power facility was built on King’s Academy campus in Madaba and financed by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power.
King’s Academy estimates it will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 2,300 tonnes (t) as a result of using renewable energy generated by the plant.
The project, which is 80% complete, will be finished in June this year.
It will eventually reduce the school’s need to pay an electricity bill, according to King’s Academy headmaster, John Austin.
More than 8,000 photovoltaic panels were installed on buildings roofs and in open areas around the campus to capture enough sunlight needed to generate electricity for the school.
Jordan wants to increase the amount of electricity it sources through renewable and sustainable sources, such as solar, and the photovoltaic plant at King’s Academy will help the country achieve this goal.
Meanwhile, ACWA Power, the developer of power generation and desalinated water plants, wants to deliver cheap electricity and desalinated water in the Arab world.
In February 2018, the company won a 25-year power purchase contract for the first-ever utility-scale renewable energy project in Saudi Arabia.
Called Sakaka Independent Power Producer (IPP) photovoltaic solar project, the facility will generate up to 300MW upon completion. It is worth approximately $302m (SAR1.1bn).
The developer, owner, and operator of power and desalinated water plants is also a cryptocurrency user.
In January this year, ACWA Power adopted SolarCoin, which will provide digital tokens for every MWh of solar energy produced by the firm.
The company can also use the cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services.
