President Kim Jong-gap of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) discusses ways to expand mutual collaboration in the whole of Jordanian power industry during his talks with Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz in Jordan on Oct. 14. (Photo: KEPCO)

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) held a ceremony to dedicate the 89.1MW Fujeij Wind Power Farm, some 150 km south of Amman, on Oct. 15.

Among about 200 people on hand at the event were KEPCO President Kim Jong-gap, Jordanian Minister Hala Adel Zawati of Energy and Mineral Resources and President Amjad Al-Rawashdeh of the National Electric Power Co. (NEPCO).

It is a build-to-own and operate (BOO) project, wholly invested by KEPCO, responsible for all stages, ranging from project development to plant construction and operation. It is the first wind power project KEPCO has implemented in the Middle East region.

In 2013, KEPCO was selected as a preferred bidder in an international bid ordered by the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. A power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed in December 2015, and one year later, a fund necessary for the project was secured. KEPCO started commercial operation in July.

KEPCO will be allowed to operate the wind plant for 20 years, reaping an estimated $580 million (some 673.9 billion won) in proceeds from the selling of electricity generated from the farm.

The project costs about $181 million. The fund was raised by a localized corporation in Jordan, established by KEPCO, through a project financing supported by banks such as the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The newly opened Fujeij Wind Power Farm brings to three the number of power facilities KEPCO is operating in Jordan, along with the 373MW-class Al Qatrana Combined Cycle Power Plant, which was dedicated in February 2012, and the 573MW-class Amman Diesel-fired Power Plant, which was dedicated in April 2015.

KEPCO has emerged as a major power supplier in Jordan as the Korean power company has a combined power capacity of 1,035MW, accounting for an about 20 percent of the nation’s total capacity of 5.236MW. 

KEPCO has been successfully implementing BOO projects in Middle Eastern areas other than Jordan, including a 5,600MW nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, the Shuweihat S3 Combined Cycle Power Plant in the UAE, and the 1,204MW Rabigh fuel-oil power plant in Saudi Arabia.

At a speech at the event, KEPCO President Kim said, “The successful dedication of the Fujeij Wind Power Farm will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen cooperative ties between KEPCO and Jordan.” He also expressed hope that KEPCO will contribute to helping Jordan expanding new and renewable energies.

KEPCO President KIim held talks with Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz prior to the dedication ceremony and they agreed to expand mutual collaboration in the whole of Jordanian power industry such as new/renewable energy as well as power transmission and distribution.

Meanwhile, starting with the 1,024MW new/renewable projects in Gangsu, Inner Mongolia and Liaoning in2016, KEPCO built the 28MW Chitose Photovoltaic Power Plant in Hokkido, Japan, in 2017 before the dedication of the latest Fujeij Wind Power Farm.

The move is designed to help KEPCO not only comply with policies of expanding new/renewable energies, which emerge as major global task in the Post-2020 Climate Change Regime, but also expanding its business turf as a global new/renewal power supplier.