Energy In Jordan

[lealfonse]

Gov’t committed to renewable energy despite costs


By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - The government has said that it remains committed to renewable energy, with senior officials studying various financing plans to utilise alternative energy resources in the Kingdom.

Despite facing a budget deficit of over JD1 billion, the government has made renewable energy projects a priority to secure the country’s energy independence, according to Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jafar Hassan.

During a meeting with The Jordan Times last week, Hassan stressed that although initial investment costs may be “high”, the adoption of renewable energy sources is vital to the country’s long-term economic growth.

“Although the price tag may be high at first, electricity generated by renewable energy will cost less in the long-run and it has been a commitment of the government,” he said, highlighting that one of the first acts of the Cabinet helmed by Prime Minister Samir Rifai was to endorse the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law, which aims to streamline investment in the sector.

A ministerial committee was formed by the Cabinet earlier this month to examine various ways to make renewable energy affordable.

The committee, chaired by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Irani and comprising the secretaries general of the energy, finance, and environment ministries and the chairman of the National Electric Power Company, among other officials, seeks to ensure the country meets the National Energy Strategy, which calls for renewable energy to account for 10 per cent of the energy mix within a decade.

To assist the committee, consultants financed by the World Bank-funded Global Environment Facility will recommend regulatory and institutional frameworks, renewable energy pricing and subsidy schemes.

“Teams will be working with consultants on ways to reach the 10 per cent goal on time and will examine the different scenarios in terms of costs either through subsidy or a mixture of a subsidy and treasury funds,” Irani told The Jordan Times in a phone interview on Sunday. He added the technical consultants, expected to be selected “very soon”, will have four to six months to present their recommendations.

Some of the main options to boost investment in the sector include a feed-in tariff, under which the government would subsidise the price difference between electricity produced from renewable and conventional sources, and the allocation of land for projects on favourable terms and tax credits for developers.

“The key is financing. How we will finance will dictate which projects we will prioritise and which projects we will enter for direct negotiations,” Irani added.

In its first preliminary meeting earlier this month, the committee looked at the long-term impacts of various financing schemes, exploring the effect on projects as well as the cost passed on to consumers and the state budget.

“We don’t want to start a project that will lead to a long-term commitment of the treasury without having a clear picture,” Irani stressed.

Among the proposals being considered is introducing a package of incentives and gradually phasing them out once electricity produced by renewable energy becomes more competitive with electricity generated by fossil fuels.

Another area the committee will study is the use of soft loans, which, according to Irani, would “dramatically reduce” the cost of introducing renewable energy.

Government guarantees for renewable energy projects and direct integration into the national grid, passing along a part of the cost to the end-user, are other options, he added.

Irani pointed out that a number of donors and financing institutions have credit facilities available to finance renewable and clean energy projects at very preferential terms.

Hassan underlined that in parallel, the government is also exploring a large-scale partnership with European countries under which the EU would provide financial and technical assistance to the Kingdom’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programme.

The National Energy Strategy calls for 7 per cent of the Kingdom’s energy mix to come from renewable energy sources by 2015, and 10 per cent by 2020. According to various estimates, meeting the strategy’s goals requires billions of dollars in investments over the next decade.

Renewable energy is seen as essential to reducing the Kingdom’s reliance on energy imports, which account for 96 per cent of energy consumed in the country and costs around 13 per cent of gross domestic product.

31 August 2010

[lealfonse]

Kingdom enters second stage of talks over nuclear plant

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Jordan is entering the second round of negotiations with a French-Japanese consortium this week for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant, according to a government official.

During a press conference on Friday, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan announced that the commission will meet with French firm AREVA and Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries this week for a second phase of talks in its technology selection process.

Among the main topics in the talks will be the plant construction logistics and the long-term cost of electricity produced by the consortium’s proposed ATMEA1 reactor technology, he indicated.

The 1,000-1,150-megawatt model reactor, which incorporates technology from AREVA’s Evolutionary Power Reactor and Mitsubishi’s Advanced Pressurised Water Reactor, has yet to be brought online anywhere in the world.

According to Toukan, the consortium has already contacted potential operators, including French energy giant GDF Suez and the Japanese Kansai Electric Power Company, to move forward with its proposal.

The selected developer is expected to contract with an operator to run the plant once built, Toukan explained, noting that the plant is to be run on a 50-50 public-private partnership.

According to Toukan, in the evaluation phase, the ATMEA1 reactor has scored “very strong points” in safety, particularly its core catcher and durable reactor containment designs.

Although financing is a core issue in its technology selection, it will not be the sole deciding factor, he stressed.

“We will not go for the cheapest price,” Toukan said in response to a question during a press conference.

“This is more fine- tuning to figure the cost of electricity on the grid in the future,” he said.

Toukan’s remarks came shortly after Jordan and Japan signed a nuclear cooperation agreement, clearing the way for the consortium’s bid to go forward. Both countries have expressed hope that the agreement will be ratified by the Japanese parliament next month.

The Kingdom’s first nuclear reactor is to be built on a location some 20 kilometres outside Aqaba city and nine kilometres inland within the next decade.

ATMEA1 was short-listed by the commission in May along with Canadian AECL’s Enhanced CANDU 6 reactor and the AES-92 VVER-1000 reactor by Russian firm Atomstroyexport.

With assistance from consultant Worley Parsons, the JAEC will proceed to select one vendor to negotiate a final contract for the design and construction of the plant by mid-next year.

13 September 2010

[lealfonse]

Japan extends support to Jordan’s nuclear programme

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Japan on Friday became the ninth nation to voice support for the Kingdom’s nuclear power programme by signing a long-awaited nuclear cooperation agreement (NCA).

An agreement to pave the way for nuclear technology sale that had been in the works since June was signed on Friday by Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan and Japanese Embassy Charge d’Affairs Kiyoshi Asako.

“Today is a special and significant dayة signing this agreement is a historic moment which opens a new chapter in the relations between our two countries,” Toukan said during a signing ceremony on Friday.

Asako highlighted that the NCA will pave the way for Japan to transfer nuclear and nuclear-related materials and technology to the Kingdom.

“This agreement will provide a framework for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy between Japan and Jordan for a long period of time,” Asako said.

The NCA is also a prerequisite for JAEC to move forward in evaluating an offer from Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has formed a joint consortium with French firm AREVA, to provide the country with its ATMEA1 reactor technology.

The fact that the agreement was signed on the first day of the Eid Al Fitr holiday underlines the importance and urgency of the cooperation, Toukan pointed out.

According to the JAEC, the deal was signed in order to have the agreement placed on the agenda in the upcoming extraordinary session of Japanese parliament, slated to begin later this month.

Both Jordan and Japan hope to have the agreement ratified by early October so that talks between JAEC and the Japanese-French consortium, one of three technology providers shortlisted by the commission, can progress.

Toukan underlined that the deal represented a “very important step” to proceed with export permits if ATMEA1 is selected as the technology for the country’s first reactor, a 1,000 megawatt reactor to be built within the next decade.

Also under the deal, Jordan will be able to take advantage of Japan’s 50 years of experience in atomic energy, Toukan stressed. Japan completed its first nuclear power plant in 1965 and the country currently has 55 reactors accounting for one-third of its electricity generation.

In addition to technology, Jordan is interested in learning from the Japanese experience in building and operating reactors in “seismically challenging” areas, according to Toukan.

The planned site for the country’s first nuclear power plant near Aqaba is over 20 kilometres away from the Jordan Rift Valley fault line, well within international and IAEA standards.

However, Toukan stressed that the commission seeks a solid design to withstand any potential seismic activity as part of its drive for “highly safe nuclear reactors and fuel cycles based on Generation III nuclear power plants”.

In addition to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japanese companies such as Toshiba, Hitachi and Global Nuclear Fuel can offer the country nuclear power technology services with the agreement.

In order to expand its scope of international cooperation, the commission aims to ink deals with the US, the Czech Republic and Romania by the end of the year, Toukan said, indicating that the country will also enter talks with Italy within the next few months.

The country has previously signed NCAs with the UK, France, Russia, Canada, China, South Korea, Spain and Argentina.

13 September 2010

[lealfonse]

Jordan, US nearing nuclear deal


By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Jordan and the US are closing in on a nuclear cooperation agreement (NCA) with a deal expected “within months”, according to a senior government official.

Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan said officials are currently awaiting a signed letter from the US Department of State detailing Washington’s latest position on the agreement, under which the US would lend official support for the Kingdom’s nuclear programme.

“We seem to be approaching common ground with the USة we hope in the next few months we will be able to sign a deal,” Toukan said in response to a question during a press conference on Friday.

According to Toukan, due to recent discussions, the two countries are reaching a “common understanding in the best interests of the two sides” on the framework of the agreement, which would pave the way for bilateral technology transfer.

“As a member of the NPT [nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] we stick to our rights,” he stressed.

A contentious item believed to be stalling the deal is the enrichment or reprocessing fuel. According to media reports, American officials would prefer Jordan to renounce its right to enrich uranium despite the presence of uranium reserves in the Kingdom.

According to Toukan, the two sides are now nearing a deal that would “allow our rights under the NPT and provide fuel solutions that will satisfy the international community”.

The country has no near-term plans of enriching or reprocessing fuel, Toukan stressed, citing costs and logistics.

“We never said we would be enriching fuel in Jordan today,” Toukan told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of a NCA signing ceremony with Japan on Friday.

He explained that due to the relatively small scale of the nuclear power programme, even with the planned construction of four reactors, enriching fuel in the Kingdom is “economically infeasible”.

However, he stressed that the country looks to retain the right guaranteed in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so that in future decades the Kingdom could explore the possibility of a joint venture with an international partner to utilise the country’s vast uranium resources.

The country is home to some 130,000 tonnes of uranium, most concentrated in the central and eastern regions and the remaining existing in phosphate deposits. The Kingdom’s reserves represent 2 per cent of the known uranium ore in the world.

Under the 123 agreement signed between the UAE and the US last year, Abu Dhabi voluntarily waived its right under the NPT to enrich and reprocess uranium on its soil. Previous media reports and comments by officials have suggested that the US has been looking for a similar agreement with Jordan.

Jordan’s peaceful nuclear power programme is seen as key to weaning the country off energy imports, which accounted for 96 per cent of energy consumed in 2009 at a cost of 13 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Nuclear energy has also been singled out as vital to water mega-projects such as Red Sea desalination and the Red-Dead Canal, which will require some 1,000 megawatts of electricity, according to estimates.

Jordan signed its first memorandum of understanding in the nuclear field, a precursor to an NCA, with the US in 2007.

13 September 2010

[lealfonse]

Kingdom exploring new sources of natural gas supply


By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - A drop in the amount of natural gas supplied by Egypt is forcing the Kingdom to explore new energy sources, according to a senior official.

Natural gas, which the Kingdom receives from Egypt at preferential prices, fuelled 90 per cent of electricity generation last year, but the amount of gas supplied to Jordan has dropped to 70 per cent of its previous levels over the last two months.

With the gas supply now at the minimum level stipulated in a bilateral agreement, the country’s power plants are relying on costlier diesel and heavy oil to make up the difference, and the government has begun to look for long-term alternatives, according to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Irani.

“Natural gas has become a big challenge and this is why we need to diversify,” Irani told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday.

Cairo and Amman reached an initial agreement in 2004 to provide the Kingdom with 2.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas at preferential prices, with an “agreement in principle” to eventually provide an additional 900 million cubic metres. With availability issues on the Egyptian side, which have led to severe power cuts in that country, the supply to the Kingdom has recently begun dipping below the minimum level.

“There is always a chance for a new arrangement and we keep communication open with our Egyptian counterparts,” Irani said, noting that the ministry hopes to receive increased quantities of natural gas by next year.

“Meanwhile, we have to use other fuels, heavy fuels and diesel, which is costly, but there are no other alternatives in the short term,” he said.

The Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) is reviewing electricity tariffs based on the new costs, he said, noting that by law the commission is able to impose additional costs based on increases in fuel prices.

The ERC was unavailable for comment.

In the medium term, the ministry is currently “exploring two different tracks”, the first of which is pursuing natural gas imports from other countries, Irani explained, noting that it has sent a team to Qatar, and is exploring the import of natural gas from Iraq and Algeria.

The ministry has also contacted consultants to explore the feasibility and cost of natural gas imports and joint ventures in the field, he said, indicating that the ministry has spoken with companies such as Shell and BP to learn more about natural gas reserves and import opportunities across the region.

Another major pillar of the ministry’s efforts to secure new energy sources is oil shale, the minister said, noting that last week he visited Estonia, which produces 100 per cent of its electricity from the resource.

“I saw the power plant, 1,600 megawatts (MW) using oil shale. I saw it; it is real and it is possible,” he said.

Jordan is home to some 50 billion tonnes of shale reserves, according to various estimates. Earlier this year, Eesti Energia, Estonia’s state-owned electricity company, signed an agreement to extract and retort oil shale in the central region, with production expected to reach 36,000 barrels of shale oil a day.

During last week’s visit, Irani said he met with Eesti Energia CEO Sandor Liive and Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip to discuss establishing an electricity plant in Jordan and applying Estonia’s experience as a model for the Kingdom.

“They are expanding their own plant to 2,400MW; they will be generating as much electricity from oil shale as we generate in the entire country,” he said, stressing that oil shale meets EU environmental standards.

According to Irani, a preliminary feasibility study for an oil shale electricity plant in the central region will be completed by January and forwarded for review.

Meanwhile, he stressed that renewable energy remains “at the heart of our strategy”, noting that the ministry has finalised an action plan to proceed with renewable energy projects and pricing.

Irani said officials expect to present the “renewable energy roadmap” to a ministerial committee and to Prime Minister Samir Rifai next week.

In parallel, the ministry is working with the World Bank to proceed with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund, which will provide funding for projects in the field and potential electricity pricing schemes.

The Cabinet has provided the fund with JD20 million.

Under the national energy strategy, renewable energy is to account for 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s energy mix, with oil shale accounting for 14 per cent. The country’s reliance on natural gas is to drop from 40 per cent to 29 per cent.

17 September 2010

[lealfonse]

Jordan expects US nuclear deal

Jordan expects to reach a compromise with the US on its nuclear power plans by the end of the year, paving the way for the award of a reactor construction contract several months later, a senior official said yesterday.

The kingdom wants to become the second Arab state after the UAE to harness civilian nuclear power but has yet to receive US approval, considered crucial for securing key components and technology as well as assuring worldwide political acceptance.

The agreement has stalled over Jordan’s reluctance to give up its right under international law to enrich large uranium reserves that the country discovered in 2007.

But Kamal Khdier, the director of planning for the Jordanian atomic energy commission, yesterday stressed the potential for a compromise that would allow Jordan to maintain its formal right but decline to exercise it for decades.

“Both the US and Jordan are looking to be in a more compromising situation regarding this issue,” he said in Dubai on the sidelines of a conference on nuclear energy.

“We are not in a situation that we have to enrich uranium … it’s not going to happen for 20 years,” Mr Khdier said.

“But at the same time we are not going to give up our right. In the future the technology might change. Why should we give up this right straight from the beginning?”

The UAE, by contrast, pledged never to enrich uranium on its soil in a bid to satisfy the world community that it had no interest in building an atomic weapon.

Jordan put great weight on reaching an agreement with Washington, Mr Khdier said.

“For the political atmosphere … to sit right, we need to sign an agreement with all the major players in the nuclear business,” he said. “Although [US companies] are not bidding for the nuclear power plant, there is still a lot of equipment and materials that can be exported from the United States.”

Jordan has already reached similar co-operation agreements with France, China, South Korea, Canada, Russia, the UK, Argentina, Spain and Japan, Mr Khdier said.

The Jordanian atomic energy commission is evaluating three bids from foreign companies to build and operate the country’s first nuclear power station by the end of the decade. The contenders include Atomic Energy of Canada, Russia’s Atomstroyexport and a joint bid by Areva of France and Mitsubishi of Japan.

Jordan will expect the foreign partner to operate the plant for at least five years, provide training to Jordanians and help finance the construction, Mr Khdier said.

The country lacks the large financial resources of the UAE and is likely to have to pay more to finance the plant, according to estimates by Ashok Pasricha, a senior technical adviser at the US Export-Import Bank, a government-backed institution that lends money to buyers of US exports.

Under a hypothetical US$5 billion (Dh18.36bn), 18-year loan from the bank, the UAE would pay an “all-in cost” of 2.91 per cent, while Jordan would pay 4.13 per cent, he said.

The Jordanian government was weighing various models in which it would put up enough equity to own 50 or 70 per cent of the plant and then would help to fund the project with revenue from uranium exports, Mr Khdier said.

But the main factor was ensuring that the cost of producing electricity in 10 years was competitive with rates from conventional sources, which now average about five US cents a kilowatt-hour, he said.

“We are not going to build a nuclear power plant just for the sake of building it,” he told the conference. “Essentially, we need cheap electricity.”

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs....100929328/1005

[lealfonse]

Improving quality of higher education, research key goals'


RBID (Petra) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday stressed the importance of improving the quality of education at the country's universities, noting that this goal requires strategic planning so that these institutions can build on their achievements.

During a meeting at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) with the university president and deans, the Monarch also emphasised the need to explore means to increase investment in scientific research and support innovative and creative Jordanians.

The King, who commended the distinguished status the university has achieved since its establishment in 1987, especially in the area of scientific research, asserted the need to continue on this path.

At the meeting, attended by Royal Court Chief Nasser Lozi and the King’s Adviser Ayman Safadi, JUST President Wajih Owais highlighted the university’s ongoing expansion and development.

During the visit, the King toured an exhibition featuring students’ projects and achievements in the areas of medicine, engineering and renewable energy, including models of their projects.

Students briefed the King on the Internet Reactor Laboratory, a joint project of North Carolina State University and JUST, implemented in cooperation with the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, that allows JUST students to access the US university’s PULSTAR nuclear reactor over the Internet in their local “Nuclear Reactor Laboratory”.

The programme was sponsored by the US Department of State under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Also yesterday, the King attended the launch of the campus-based nuclear research centre that will accommodate the Kingdom’s first nuclear reactor for research and training purposes. He also unveiled a model of the research reactor, which will be built by a South Korean consortium.

The nuclear research centre, to be completed by 2015, will cost $130 million, of which $70 million will be secured through a soft loan from the South Korean government.

With regard to the university’s research potential, Owais said members of its teaching staff have acquired $15 million from local and international institutions over the past three years to fund research. Next year, the university will graduate its first batch of students specialising in nuclear engineering, Owais said, noting the high demand for this specialisation.

24 November 2010

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32038

[lealfonse]

Work begins on Korea-designed research reactor for Jordan

EOUL, Nov 24, 2010 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --

A South Korean consortium broke ground Tuesday on a locally designed nuclear research reactor for Jordan, Seoul's first such project overseas, the government said Tuesday.

The consortium led by the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. plans to complete the 5-megawatt Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) by March 2015, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.

The reactor, to be set up at the Jordan Center for Nuclear Research, will be used to conduct various scientific and engineering studies and can be designed for isotope production used for medical and industrial purposes.

It can also be utilized to train nuclear-related experts, although it is not designed to generate electrical power for commercial use, the ministry said.

The JRTR represents the first time that Seoul has secured a deal to build a complete atomic research facility abroad after it started operating its first experimental reactor in 1962 that was built by the United States.

The country has since built the indigenous 30-megawatt High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor unit, which formed the base design for the new Jordanian reactor.

"South Korea will offer full-fledged support for the reactor project and hopes this can lead to noteworthy advances in Jordan's nuclear program," Deputy Science Minister Kim Young-shik was quoted as saying at the ceremony.

The project, estimated to cost around 150 billion won (US$132 million), could allow South Korea to make inroads into the global nuclear reactor-building market, the ministry said.

KAERI said there are currently 240 test reactors in operation around the world, and there may be a demand to build 114 10-to-20-megawatt reactors in the coming years.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/s...n-1328932.html

[yazm1991]

Thanks for all the updates lealfonse. Great to see Jordan is progressing with its Nuclear ambitions.

[lealfonse]

Originally Posted by yazm1991

Thanks for all the updates lealfonse. Great to see Jordan is progressing with its Nuclear ambitions.

Your more than welcome.

[draman]

you doing well here lealfonse

[lealfonse]

Feasibility studies to decide future of oil shale power plant

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Plans for the country’s first oil shale power station may become a reality pending the results of feasibility studies expected this month, according to a senior energy official.

Estonian state-owned company Eesti Energia will present technical and financial feasibility studies for the construction of a 300 megawatt (MW) oil shale-burning power plant to the Prime Ministry within the next two weeks, said Natural Resources Authority (NRA) Director General Maher Hijazeen.

The firm, which has spent the past two years conducting the feasibility studies, is expected to offer an estimated price per kilowatt-hour.

Should the terms be favourable, the government will enter a power purchasing agreement with the firm, which will then construct the power plant, he said.

“Once they submit the study, the government will evaluate it. If we negotiate and agree on everything, they will start building,” Hijazeen told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday.

The plant, which is to be constructed on a build-own-operate basis, is to be completed in 2016 and expanded to a 900MW capacity some five years later, he added.

Hijazeen indicated that if the quoted electricity tariff is too high, the government will not enter negotiations, and plans for the power plant will be shelved.

Under a separate deal signed by the firm and the government in May, Eesti Energia is working to extract oil shale in a 41-square-kilometre concession area in Attarat, in the central region.

The 44-year agreement, which was approved by the Cabinet earlier this year, entails the initial production of 20,000 gallons of oil shale a day, a number that is expected to increase to 36,000 barrels daily.

Involving an estimated $6 billion in investments, the company is expected to begin production of oil extracted from shale within five to seven years.

If built, the power plant would be constructed near the concession area, according to Eesti Energia.

Electricity produced by oil shale is to account for 14 per cent of the Kingdom’s energy mix within the next decade, under the national energy strategy.

Previous NRA studies revealed that 40 billion tonnes of oil shale exist at 21 sites concentrated near the Yarmouk River, Buweida, Beit Ras, Rweished, Karak, Madaba and Maan.

Over 90 per cent of electricity in Estonia is produced from oil shale.



2 December 2010

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32268

[lealfonse]

Malaysia YTL Power acquires 30 pct stake in Jordan shale project

* YTL Power in first foray in upstream oil business

* Jordan shale project's capital cost is $5 billion, says director

* YTL Power to develop oil plant with partners (Adds details, quotes)

By Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Min Hun Fong

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia's YTL Power has acquired a 30 percent stake in Estonian state oil company Eesti Energia's oil shale project in Jordan, marking its foray into the upstream oil business, the power producer said on Tuesday.

YTL Power is joining power and utility companies from India, South Korea and Japan in investing in overseas fuel assets to manage the escalating costs of fuel and gas.

Under the agreement, Eesti Energia and its Jordanian partner Near East Investment, along with YTL Power, will develop an oil plant with an output of about 38,000 barrels per day (bpd) and a 900 megawatt oil-shale fired power plant.

"We are going into Jordan on a holistic basis, which means we are going to be involved in every part of the project," YTL Power's Director of Financial Analysis Lucius Chong told Reuters.

"This is our first time in the country and the first time we are working with oil shale, which is why we have entered into a partnership with Eestie Energia."

Chong declined to put a specific dollar value on YTL Power's investment into Jordan, but said the project's capital costs is about $5 billion.

Eestie Energia is the world's largest producer of shale oil. The Estonian government had considered listing a minority stake in the power company, but shelved the IPO due to market instability.

Chong said YTL Power first became interested in the upstream side of the oil business after acquiring Power Seraya from Singapore's Temasek Holdings in 2008.

YTL Power owns and operates about 5,500 megawatts of gas, oil and coal-fired power generation plans in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It also owns Wessex Water Services Ltd, a water and sewerage company in the southwest of England.

"This (the investment in Jordan) fits well with our strategy of investing in natural resource-based energy infrastructure," said Yeoh Seok Hong, executive director of YTL Power, in an emailed statement.

Malaysian national oil company Petronas has been active in acquiring overseas upstream energy assets for the past 15 years, with a third of its revenues and oil coming from abroad. Asia's state energy companies led by China, India, South Korea and Japan are also increasingly competing for assets against oil majors.

European utilities have bought into oil and gas fields in the North Sea, spurred by high gas and fuel prices and replacing some of the major oil companies that have dominated the region since the 1960s.

Earlier this year, Eesti Energia had agreed on a 40-year concession to exploit oil shale in the Attarat Umm Ghudran oil shale deposit with the government of Jordan.

Estonia is heavily dependent on oil shale for energy and its state-owned energy firm is seeking to branch out to other countries to make use of its oil shale expertise as the largest processor of oil shale in the world.

Jordan has up to 80 billion tonnes of oil shale, according to Eestie Energia's website.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL...4?pageNumber=2
http://balticbusinessnews.com/articl...ia-s-in-Jordan
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/ne....php?id=549957

[lealfonse]

JAEC changes nuclear reactor site

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - The site of the country’s first nuclear reactor has been relocated from Aqaba to the centre of the Kingdom, a senior energy official announced on Monday.

In a public forum yesterday, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan announced that energy officials have decided against a proposed site near Aqaba, which had been under consideration for over a year, citing construction costs.

“The new site will be in Majdal near Khirbet Al Samra in the central region… indicators so far look very positive,” Toukan said at a national public information seminar on the nuclear programme.

Based on feasibility studies carried out by Belgian contractor Tractabel, JAEC has concluded that the seismic padding required to build on the original site, 20 kilometres outside Aqaba city, would have led to additional costs of “15 per cent per reactor unit”.

In addition to seismic concerns, Toukan said grid connectivity issues also influenced the authorities’ decision to relocate the preferred site for the power plant, slated to be a 1,000 megawatts (MW) Generation III reactor.

“The new location will be at the centre of the grid and electricity load, and electricity losses will be lower,” Toukan told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the seminar.

According to JAEC, the former site’s proximity to the Kingdom’s border with Saudi Arabia was also viewed as a potential liability.

The new site, 40 kilometres northeast of Amman and 15 kilometres away from Hashemite University, is a remote desert area in the Mafraq Governorate, far from residential areas, he said.

“We will be 20 kilometres away from any population centre,” Toukan stressed.

JAEC originally chose the preferred site in Aqaba due to its proximity to the Red Sea, prioritising access to seawater for reactor cooling. Toukan said the new site, over 350 kilometres from the Kingdom’s only coastline, will rely instead on water from the Khirbet Al Samra wastewater treatment plant near Zarqa.

According to initial studies, the total annual water requirement for the reactor will stand at 22 million cubic metres (mcm), he said, noting that a planned expansion of Khirbet Al Samra is expected to boost the treatment plant’s capacity to 60mcm.

With the increased capacity, the wastewater treatment plant could provide enough water to cool three 1,000MW reactors on the site, with reactor cooling expected to be a less water-intensive process due to the desert’s lower night-time temperatures.

“We will only need 22 million cubic metres. In Aqaba, we were preparing to use 100mcm; this makes a huge difference,” he said.

Toukan indicated that the Majdal site is similar to the Palo Verde nuclear reactor in Arizona, one of the few nuclear power plants in the world located inland and in a desert climate.

In order to take advantage of the US experience in constructing and operating the 4,000MW plant, Toukan said two experts from Palo Verde were invited to the Kingdom last week in order to assess the new site.

With the decision, JAEC will request the three firms shortlisted to build the country’s first reactor - Canadian AECL, Russian Atomstroyexport and French-Japanese consortium AREVA-Mitsubishi - to submit bid documents and price estimations based on the new site, according to Toukan.

The country’s first nuclear reactor is to be constructed within the next decade, with plans for a second reactor devoted to water desalination some two years later.

15 December 2010

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32645

[lealfonse]

‘Jordan’s potential uranium reserves growing’

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Officials have made promising uranium finds in Al Hassa, adding to the country’s potential strategic reserves to fuel its nuclear programme, according to the Jordan Atomic Energy Agency Commission (JAEC).

In a public seminar on Tuesday, JAEC Chairman Khaled Toukan said recent finds in the west and south of the country will bolster the nuclear power programme.

In ongoing exploration efforts in Al Hassa, Jordan Energy Resources Inc. (JERI) has discovered uranium deposits of around 190 parts per million, up to 400 parts per million in the area, some 250 kilometres south of Amman.

Meanwhile, he pointed out that the Jordanian French Uranium Mining Company, a joint venture of AREVA and JERI, have dug 3,500 boreholes in the central region and have found most uranium deposits near surface level.

Initial exploration efforts have confirmed that at least 70,000 metric tonnes of mineable uranium exist in the central region, he said, with expectations to surpass the number once the Jordanian-French team move on to other sections of the 1,600-square-kilometre concession area.

Toukan also underlined the potential to convert 140,000 tonnes of uranium from the country’s phosphates reserves.

“If we extract half of it, this will suffice us for the next 100 years,” he noted.

In the Southern Badia, Australian British firm Rio Tinto has discovered that uranium deposits can be found as deep as 25-30 metres below surface level.

Toukan indicated that the uranium mine in the central region, expected to be built by the Jordanian French Uranium Mining Company in 2013, would be partially funded by profits generated from uranium extraction. The country’s mining agreement with AREVA, which was inked in February, has been sent to Parliament and is currently pending approval.

15 December 2010

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32654

[yazm1991]

Great news.

[lealfonse]

Education key to Jordan nuclear future - experts

By Taylor Luck

AMMAN - Despite the talk of technology, uranium and finances, the Kingdom’s nuclear power programme hinges on one area, according to experts: education.

With the average nuclear reactor requiring a staff of 700, man- and womanpower will be crucial to the country’s quest to harness atomic energy and end its reliance on energy imports, nuclear engineering education is needed officials said.

If the country is to proceed with its eventual goal of three reactors to transform the Kingdom into an electricity exporter, 2,100 specialised and experienced staff are required, according to officials.

“The greatest challenge we will face in our efforts to introduce nuclear power will be having a strong cadre of nuclear engineers and experts,” Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Commissioner for Nuclear Fuel Cycle Ned Xoubi said during a nuclear power public information seminar on Wednesday.

The Kingdom is just part of a wider regional lack of nuclear engineers, with the Arab Atomic Energy Agency estimating that hundreds of nuclear engineers in the region left to work as civil and electrical engineers following the decline in demand for nuclear power in the 1980s and 1990s.

In order to address the shortfall in nuclear engineers, the JAEC assisted in the establishment of a nuclear engineering department at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in 2007.

According to Salaheddin Malkawi, director of the JUST nuclear engineering department, university administration has set the bar high; students must attain a minimum Tawjihi (General Secondary Certificate Examination) score of 95 to be considered for admission.

Even with the strict standards, the faculty has ballooned from an initial class of 18 to 145, he said.

A key to the university’s department is a 5-megawatt nuclear research reactor, currently being constructed by a South Korean consortium, which will be the focal point of a nuclear centre at JUST.

The centre is also to include a subcritical assembly, radioisotope production facility, education and training, and a fuel fabrication plant, according to Xoubi, who also serves as research reactor project manager.

In the meantime, JUST has sent students abroad to Russia and China thanks to scholarships extended by the host countries and have utilised a virtual reactor linking Jordanian students with North Carolina State University’s 1MW PULSTAR research reactor.

“The virtual experience has become very important; the students feel that they are in the reactor room,” Malkawi told The Jordan Times.

‘On track to a Jordanian programme’

Kenneth Peddicord, director of the Nuclear Power Institute and professor at the Texas A&M Department of Nuclear Engineering, said the country is “on the right timeline” to have Jordanian staff in place ahead of the reactor.

“To launch a nuclear engineering programme and have 140 students in three years, this is an incredible accomplishment,” he stressed, highlighting the importance of experienced engineers to man various managerial aspects of the programme.

As nuclear engineers account for some 5 per cent of the average reactor staff, Peddicord stressed that the next task for the country is preparing future cadres of mechanical, environmental and electrical engineers.

“You have to ensure you have staff with diverse backgrounds in order to fully run a plant,” he said.

In order to meet the challenge, JUST is to introduce an MA programme in project management in 2011, Malkawi said, adding that plans are in place for an MA in nuclear safety and regulation.

Another centre of excellence, a joint venture comprising JAEC, the University of Jordan, Balqaa Applied University, German-Jordanian University, and the ministries of labour, public sector reform and higher education, will be established.

The centre is to develop programmes to prepare staff for nuclear and mega-projects not provided by existing educational institutions, Malkawi said, adding that the centre will likely utilise community colleges and focus on virtual learning, such as JUST’s reactor link with the North Carolina State University.

The push for nuclear education could transform the country into a destination for countries such as the UAE, which are relying heavily on international staff to man its nuclear power programme.

Even established nuclear states such as the US may send students to Jordan to learn about the field and a new culture, according Peddicord.

“Nuclear energy is increasingly international and our students need to learn about work in other areas. We would be very interested to enable students to spend time in Jordan,” Peddicord said.

With the focus on localising the Jordanian nuclear programme, energy officials are cautious when projecting a completely nationalised staff. Reaching a point where Jordanians are involved in every aspect of anuclear power plant from top to bottom will likely take an entire generation, according to Xoubi.

Hans-Holger Rogner, section head of the IAEA planning and economic studies, said a generation is a fair assessment, pointing out that China relied on international operators before developing its own nuclear industry.

“When you decide to go for nuclear power, it’s not a passing fancy, it is a 100-year commitment,” he said.

The country’s nuclear power programme entails the establishment of a 1,000-megawatt Generation III reactor within the next decade, with tentative plans for a second reactor devoted to water desalination some two years later.

17 December 2010

[lealfonse]

UK's JEML Clinches Oil-Shale Deal With Jordan

AMMAN (Dow Jones)--Karak International Oil, a subsidiary of U.K. company Jordan Energy & Mining Ltd., Wednesday clinched a concession agreement with the Jordanian government to explore oil resources from the country's vast oil-shale formation.

The 30-year deal was signed in Amman by Jordan's minister of energy and mineral resources, Khaled Toukan.

Under the deal, JEML will extract oil from a 35-square-kilometer area called Al Lajjun in Karak governorate, some 110 kilometers south of Amman.

Production is scheduled to start in 2014 and is expected to reach an average of 15,000 barrels a day of oil in 2016 and to increase gradually to 30,000 barrels a day in the following years. "We have plans to expand to maybe 30,000 barrels a day and perhaps 60,000 barrels a day in the longer term," said Chris Morgan, JEML's director.

The U.K. company is expected to invest some $1.8 billion at the first stage of the project, Toukan told reporters shortly after signing the deal.

A memorandum of understanding between Jordan's Natural Resources Authority and JEML was signed in November 2006 to explore for oil in the Al Lajjun area.

JEML's investors include the U.K.'s Rab Capital with a stake of some 25% in the project, Australia's Sentient with 28% and JPMorgan with 8%, Morgan told Dow Jones Newswires.

Jordan, which imports about 95% of its energy needs, is estimated to have 40 billion metric tons in oil-shale deposits, which are still unexploited.

Last year the kingdom signed a concession agreement with Estonia's Esti Energia AS to explore oil and gas resources from part of Attarat Um El-Ghudran region, southern Jordan.

Toukan said his ministry is in talks with Esti Energia to construct a 750 megawatt power plant utilizing oil shale.

In 2009, the kingdom also signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) to explore for oil shale elsewhere in Jordan. Shell is expected to invest billions in the projects over 20 years.

Maher Hijazin, director general of the state-run Natural Resources Authority, said the kingdom is expected to sign another concession agreement with an unnamed international company later this year. "Our target is to achieve production of 100,000 barrels a day by 2020," he said.

Morgan said construction of the Al Lajjun oil-shale project will start next year.

The deal still needs approval from the country's parliament, Hijazin said.

-By Hassan Hafidh, Dow Jones Newswires; +962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com