July1,2024-The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, said today, Monday, that the project to deliver natural gas to the Rawdah Industrial City in Ma’an is in its final stages and its implementation will begin.
During his participation in the visit of the ministerial team formed by Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Al-Khasawneh to Ma’an Governorate to review what has been accomplished in government projects during the past 25  years, within the framework of the Kingdom’s celebrations of the silver jubilee of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s accession to the throne, he stressed that there is the necessary funding to implement a project to deliver natural gas to industrial cities, at a value of 50 million dinars, and implementation will take place starting with Al-Rawdah Industrial Park, then Al-Muwaqqar City, and Al-Mafraq Development Area.
Al-Kharabsheh noted the need for large quantities of street lighting units to complete the project in the municipalities and replace the units with energy-saving LED ones at a cost of 20 million dinars, stressing that the project is important and is being implemented by the Ministry of Energy in partnership with the Ministry of Local Administration, pointing out that within a few weeks a change order will be issued to increase the quantities of street lighting units in agreement with the companies implementing the project.

In his response to remarks received from the mayors of Ma'an Governorate, Al-Kharabsheh spoke about the solar energy stations project intended to be implemented in various municipalities of the Kingdom, with funding from the European Investment Bank, by issuing three bids to implement it in the municipalities of the south, north, and center, starting with the municipalities of the south.
Al-Kharabsheh confirmed that the Ministry has completed the installation of solar cell systems for administrative buildings in 30 municipalities, and that work on the project will be completed in 70 municipalities through tenders.
The projects completed in the energy and mineral resources sector in Ma'an Governorate in the natural gas sector include the implementation of the natural gas pipeline project from Aqaba to the north of the Kingdom and its expansions since 2008, which contributes to saving the cost of electrical energy and basic energy supplies necessary for economic development, as well as improving the degree of secure energy supply in the country and supplying national industries with natural gas as an energy generator, which would reduce the cost of production and contribute to raising their ability to compete, provide additional sources of natural gas to meet the needs of the electricity sector, industries, and distribution in cities, and provide job opportunities for the Jordanian workforce.
As for the projects that are still under implementation in the natural gas sector, the project to deliver natural gas to cities and industrial clusters, which is expected to be completed in 2026, is currently being coordinated in cooperation with a donor agency to prepare the necessary studies to begin procedures for delivering natural gas to Ma’an Industrial City.

 In the rural electrification sector in Ma'an, projects were implemented to deliver electricity from electrical networks to sites at the expense of the countryside in 2023, where electricity was delivered to 419 sites to serve 1,160 homes at a financial cost amounting to 2.96 million Jordanian dinars.
Projects were also implemented to install grid-connected solar cell systems in the homes of beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund from 2019 to 2023, where installation was carried out in 100 locations.
As for the projects that are still under implementation in the rural electrification sector in the governorate, they include projects to deliver electricity from electrical networks to sites at the expense of the rural dime, which are still under implementation and are being implemented in 32 sites to serve 43 homes at a financial cost amounting to 316.1 thousand Jordanian dinars.
Work is also still underway to implement projects to install grid-connected solar cell systems for the homes of beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund, and the projects are being implemented in 130 locations; projects to install grid-connected solar cell systems for the homes of disabled soldiers, and implementation is being carried out in 27 homes; and a lighting unit replacement project. Traditional LED units have been replaced with energy-saving LED units. From 2019 to 2023, 30,832 LED energy-saving units have been replaced, and work is still underway to replace 7,981 units during the current year.

Regarding the projects completed in the Fund for Promoting Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, a project was implemented to support solar heater systems in homes, where the installation of solar heaters was supported for 1,139 homes since 2015 until now, a project to support the installation of solar cell systems in homes for 231 homes since 2015 until now, and a project to support the replacement of LED lighting units in homes, where 9,802 lighting units were replaced in the home sector since 2015 until now.

The Ministry implemented a program for energy efficiency and renewable energy in medium and small factories in one factory, an energy efficiency measures program for four-star hotels and less in 12 hotels, a program for energy efficiency, heating, cooling, and renewable energy procedures for schools in 5 schools, and a project to apply renewable energy to health centers. In two centers, a project to install solar cells for places of worship (mosques, churches) for two places of worship, and a project to apply renewable energy to municipalities for two municipalities.

In the field of renewable energy, 15 projects were completed, namely: “Direct demonstration projects for solar cells/first round/Scatec Solar AS Company project in 2016, which provided 300 temporary jobs and 6 permanent jobs, and direct demonstration projects for solar cells/first round/Company project.” Sun Edison Italy in 2016, which provided 600 temporary jobs and 12 permanent jobs, and solar cell direct demonstration projects/first round/Land of Hope Company project in 2016, which provided 300 temporary jobs and 6 permanent jobs, and solar cell direct demonstration projects/first round. / Ennera project in 2016, which provided 300 temporary jobs and 6 permanent jobs, and direct demonstration projects for solar cells/ The first round / Anwar Al-Ardh Company project in 2016, which provided 600 temporary jobs and 12 permanent jobs, direct demonstration projects for solar cells/ The first round/Shams Maan Company project using solar cells in 2016, which provided 1,560 temporary jobs and 32 permanent jobs, and the direct demonstration projects for solar cells/the first round/Zahrat al-Salam Company project since 2016, which provided 300 temporary jobs and 6 permanent jobs, And the direct demonstration projects for solar cells/the first round/the Zanbaq Company project, which provided 300 temporary jobs and 6 permanent jobs, and the direct demonstration projects for solar cells/the first round/the Al-Ward Al-Juri Company project, and the direct demonstration projects for solar cells/the first round/the Saqr Ma’an Company project. , which provided 600 temporary jobs and 12 permanent jobs, the wind energy project in Ma’an (Gulf grant/turnkey contract), which provided 240 temporary jobs and 40 permanent jobs, and the wind energy project in Al-Rajif/Ma’an (direct demonstration), which provided 258 A temporary job and 43 permanent jobs, and the wind energy project in Al-Fujij/Shoubak (direct demonstration), which provided 267 temporary jobs and 54 permanent jobs, and the wind energy project in Al-Shoubak (direct demonstration), which provided 135 temporary jobs and 23 permanent jobs, and the Philadelphia Company project ( Al-Husseiniya) using solar cells similar to the second phase (direct demonstration), which provided 1,500 temporary jobs and 30 permanent jobs.

In the field of mineral resources (petroleum), the drilling of three oil wells was carried out in the Al-Sarhan area in 2023, and reliance on natural resources in the Kingdom increased. Among the projects under implementation is the conduct of three-dimensional seismic surveys to the east of the Al-Jafr region, whose completion is expected to be completed in 2025. And drilling two oil wells in the Al-Sarhan development area, which is expected to be completed in 2024.
In the field of geological survey, geological maps on a scale of 1:50,000 and a scale of 1:100,000 and detailed geological reports were prepared, covering an area of 24,758 km2, or 76.4% of the governorate’s area, and the remaining area of 8,074 km2, or 24.6%, located in the far east of the governorate, adjacent to For the border with Saudi Arabia, a detailed geological map was implemented to study the positions of gold ore and associated minerals in the Wadi Abu Khashiba/Wadi Araba area, scale 1:10,000, with an accompanying technical report. Detailed geological maps were also implemented of the positions of zircon ore and associated minerals (number 2) in areas east of Disi. A detailed geological and engineering map of the ancient city of Petra and the surrounding areas was implemented on a scale of 1:5000.