Energy

As Jordan has historically imported the majority of its energy needs, the drop in global oil prices between mid-2014 and early 2015 will have a positive impact on the kingdom’s near term energy bills and on its trade deficit. However, the kingdom is also set to diversify its energy sources moving forward. As part of its National Energy Plan, Jordan hopes to see 29% of total energy needs met by natural gas by 2020, 14% by oil shale and 6% from nuclear energy. The plan also aims to generate more than 15% of total projected energy requirements via renewable resources. Indeed renewable energy activity has seen a sharp uptick in recent years, guided by sector-specific legislation and a raft of new solar and wind projects, with close to 1000 MW of solar and wind projects under development.

This chapter contains an interview with Ibrahim Saif, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.