September 17, 2024 - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources participated today, Tuesday, in a workshop entitled "Industrial Resilience - International Best Practices" implemented by the Royal Scientific Society - National Center for Energy Research, in cooperation with Guide house Energy Consulting Company, to discuss industrial resilience and international best practices in this field.

The representative of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources / member of the National Expert Committee for the MENA_LINKS project, Engineer Omar Al-Rousan, said that Jordan has achieved great progress in the field of renewable energy, by installing 2.7 gigawatts of clean energy by the end of 2023, most of which comes from solar and wind energy.

Al-Rousan added that clean energy in Jordan now constitutes 14% of the total energy mix, and contributes about 26% of the electricity mix in the Kingdom until the end of 2023.

He explained that Jordan seeks to increase the percentage of renewable energy contribution to more than 31% of the total electricity requirement by 2030.

Al-Rousan noted that despite of these achievements, the Kingdom faces challenges related to the volatility of renewable energy sources and the nature of consumption and demand for electricity, which could affect the network's ability to integrate more clean energy.

He explained that the Ministry of Energy highlighted the importance of the "MENALINKS" project, which aims to support the electricity sector in exploring innovative solutions to enhance the flexibility of the electricity system, including effective demand management.

He pointed out that the application of the current time-related electricity tariff helps in collecting reliable data on the sectors' response to changes in tariffs during the day, which will support the design of pricing policies in Jordan.

Al-Rousan concluded by saying that the Ministry looks forward to the contributions of the "MENALINKS" project to decarburization efforts, stressing its readiness to fully cooperate to ensure the success of this project.

The workshop focused on the Jordanian industrial sector and the importance of the energy system, industrial zones and their energy consumption patterns.

The workshop reviewed international best practices to add flexibility to industrial operations, especially in the mining, steel, plastics, chemical, cement and food industries.

It is worth noting that the MENALINKS project aims to support ambitious renewable energy initiatives and integrate them into other sectors, such as transportation, industry and heating, to create a more sustainable and interconnected energy system.