Energy in Jordan

Jordan is poor in terms of recoverable energy sources, compared with neighboring Arab countries. Furthermore, its economy is fragile and depends heavily on the general situation within the region, which is considered politically instable and hostile for the last six decades. The national energy demand has grown rapidly, and it is expected to continue so in the near future. The continuous growth in energy demand has led to the increased dependence on imported crude oil, refined products and natural gas. At present, the country is importing crude oil and natural gas (94% in 2018) to sustain its present way of life. This leads to a significant hard currency drain in the economy, with an annual high oil bill.

Local Energy Sources

Despite Jordan’s efforts to increase its dependence on natural gas while decreasing its dependence on imported oil, natural gas supplies from Egypt are limited, and future generation will be based on heavy fuel oil, oil shale, renewable power projects or even nuclear unless other attractive solutions become commercially available. Unfortunately, unlike other Arab neighboring countries, Jordan is a non-fossil fuel producing country with limited natural resources and minerals. However, there are vast proven reserves of oil shale of more than 70 billion tons, within an average content of shale oil, i.e. liquid fuel, yield between 5-8 billion ton. In addition, Jordan has abundant supplies of Renewable Energy sources: high average daily solar radiation of between 5-7 kWh m^-2 day, and acceptable wind speed (6-8 m/s) to generate electricity. But the high wind regime is limited to certain districts and the estimated potential of solar energy is unlimited for different applications. There is also limited potential for municipal waste and biomass as well as small hydropower schemes, in addition to the good potential of the Red-Dead seas project. However, until recently, these untapped energy sources could satisfy Jordan needs if utilized wisely. The only on-going oil shale project is the construction of a new power plant (470 MW) based on direct combustion of oil shale, using fluidized bed technology and expected to become commercially available online by the end of 2020.

Main Indicators of Energy Sector in Jordan

The average annual consumption, in Jordan, is about one ton of oil equivalent (toe) per capita in 2018, which is less than international average of about 1.84 toe. It is also far less than the average in industrial and well developed (8 toe) and developed (5 toe) countries. This simply means that future economic and social development will be accompanied by higher rates of energy consumption. Thus, special attention should be paid to energy efficiency and diversity of energy sources including utilization of renewable energy. The following Table summarizes energy consumption during past ten years.