Jordanian minister calls for MENA-Europe electric connection project

Jordan’s energy minister Saleh Kharabsheh meeting with a British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union (BGIPU) delegation currently visiting Jordan for parliamentary cooperation. (Petra)

• Saleh Kharabsheh addressed meeting with British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation in Jordan
• Kingdom seeks to turn its electric power grid into a smart one

AMMAN: Electric connection with Europe will achieve integration between stakeholder countries by supplying the continent with relatively low-cost energy generated from renewable sources, according to Jordan’s energy minister.
Addressing a meeting with a British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation currently visiting Jordan, Saleh Kharabsheh stressed the importance of conducting an electrical interconnection project to supply Europe with green energy from the Middle East and North Africa region.
The linking includes the northern Mediterranean countries, Kharabsheh said, to provide them with green hydrogen and contribute to their commitment to reduce carbon emissions, Jordan’s News Agency reported on Thursday.
“Such a project will make Jordan a regional hub for the export of green energy, which contributes significantly to the implementation of future energy projects,” he added.
Jordan, he continued, seeks to turn its electric power grid into a smart one and accommodate the quantitive leap in sustainable energy usage, which currently composes 29 percent of total electric power generated in Jordan compared to 1 percent in 2014.
Kharabsheh briefed the delegation on developments in mineral resources exploration, saying Jordan has so far signed five memoranda of understanding for mineral exploration, some of which gave preliminary, hopeful indicators, especially for phosphate, copper, and gold.
Pointing to the Syrian crisis’s repercussions on the kingdom’s infrastructure and host communities, which provide services to about 1.3 million Syrian refugees, the minister urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in mitigating the consequences on Jordan.
The UK is a strategic and supportive partner to the kingdom, he added, pointing to the visit of King Abdullah II to Britain on Nov. 10 and the positive impact of such visits on cooperation.
He called on the British delegation to tap into Jordanian investment opportunities in clean energy.