Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Aqaba Thermal Power Plant likely to begin using gas soon
AMMAN (JT) — The state-run Aqaba Thermal Power Plant is expected to start functioning on gas soon, instead of heavy fuel, to produce electricity.Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGC) Director General Abdul Fattah Ensour, told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Monday that all technical procedures required for converting the Aqaba plant to begin functioning on gas are likely to conclude by the end of next month.
The Aqaba plant, established in 1986, currently produces around 650 megawatt, or about 43 per cent of the Kingdom's maximum generating capacity of 1,500 megawatt.
“The figure is expected to increase by 2010 to stand at more than 1,900 megawatt” after the country finishes building more power plants, he indicated.
Increasing the maximum generating capacity will enable Jordan to face an increasing demand on energy, which is expected to grow at an average rate of three per cent per annum in the next five years.
Ensour said the gas will be provided to the station through the Jordan-Egypt gas transmission pipeline.
The $1 billion project entails extending a gas pipeline starting from the offshore gas fields in Egypt's Al Arish area through Taba via an underwater pipeline to Aqaba. This section was concluded last year with Jordan and Egypt working now to stretch the pipeline to the northern parts of the Kingdom to reach Rehab Power Plant.
Ensour was quoted by Petra agency as saying that shifting Aqaba station to operate on gas will lower the cost of energy bill the country incurs per year.