EP Global Energy’s Tafila Wind Farm, the first and largest utility-scale operational wind farm in the Kingdom of Jordan, commenced commercial operations on 16 September 2015.

The commencement was announced in a joint press statement released by Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC), the project’s owner and operator, and the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) after the successful connection to the national electric grid.

JWPC’s Executive Chairman Samer Judeh said that the plant is operating at its full capacity of 117MW. The project will produce approximately 400GW/hour per year. Mr. Judeh added that the investment falls within the objectives of the government’s policies aimed at diversifying energy sources and meeting the ever-increasing demand for electricity in the country.

NEPCO Director General Abdul Fattah Daradkeh, said in a statement that the Tafila Wind Farm has fulfilled all contractual and legal requirements in accordance with the deadlines and contracts agreed upon, and has begun providing electricity generated by renewable wind power to the national electric grid, thus making this project the first of its kind in the Kingdom.

The $287-million project, built in the southern governorate of Tafila, is composed of 38 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of approximately 3MW and will account for 3 per cent of the total energy currently produced in Jordan. The electricity that the project generates from wind energy is renewable and clean, reducing the country’s carbon dioxide emissions and provides a domestically generated power source to the country.

Apart from EP Global Energy, JWPC’s other shareholders are InfraMed Infrastructure Fund and UAE-based Masdar Power. Financing was arranged by the International Finance Corporation and the European Investment Bank, while participants in the lender syndicate included the Dutch Development Bank, Europe Arab Bank, and OPEC Fund for International Development, with the Export Credit Agency of Denmark providing a guarantee for a portion of the loans.