Attarat Power Plant is an

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

-fueled power plant under construction in the Attarat Umm Ghudran area, east of Al Qatranah in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. The project is developed by the Attarat Power Company (APCO), a partnership between YTL Power International (45%), Guangdong Energy Group Co., Ltd. (45%) and

Eesti Energia Eesti Energia AS is a public limited energy company in Estonia with its headquarters in Tallinn. It is the world's biggest oil shale to energy company. The company was founded in 1939. As of 2014, it operates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Fi ...

(10%). It is the first oil shale power plant in Jordan and the largest private sector project in Jordan to date.

History

The project was originally developed by an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

n power company Eesti Energia (Enefit). The concession agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and National Electricity Power Company of Jordan, and Eesti Energia was signed on 30 April 2008. In 2010, YTL Power International bought a 30% stake in the project. A 30-year

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

was signed with Jordan in October 2014. The construction agreement was signed on 12 January 2016. The financial closure agreement was signed on 16 March 2017. At the same time, YTL Power International increased its stake in the project up to 45% and Guangdong Energy Group Co., Ltd. became a new shareholder also with 45% stake. Construction started shortly after.

Technical description

The power plant will have 554 MW gross and 477 MW net capacity. It will consist of two circulating-fluidized-bed units. The power plant would consume 10 million tons of oil shale per year which will be provided from the nearby open-pit mine and it is also the biggest mine in Jordan. Over its 40-year lifetime it would need an oil-shale mining area of approximately . The plant is among the largest power plants in Jordan (the largest being

Aqaba Thermal Power Station The Aqaba Thermal Power Station is the largest power station in Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, an ...

), and the largest oil shale-fired power plant in the world after

Narva Power Plants The Narva Power Plants ( et, Narva Elektrijaamad) are a power generation complex in and near Narva in Estonia, near the border with Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The complex consists of the world's two largest oil shale-fired thermal power plants, ...

in Estonia.

Financing

The project will cost US$2.1 billion. Shareholders will invest $528 million and the rest will be financed by $1.6 billion loan provided by the

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world. The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, rep ...

and the

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank. Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the b ...

, and guaranteed by

China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation ( zh, s=中国出口信用保险公司, t=中國出口信用保險公司, p=Zhōngguó Chūkǒu Xìnyòng Bǎoxiǎn Gōngsī , commonly known as Sinosure (中国信保, Zhōngguó Xìnbǎo)) is a major C ...

. This is the largest private project financing supported by

to date.

Construction

The pland is designed by WorleyParson. The

engineering, procurement and construction Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts (a type of turnkey contract) are a form of contract used to undertake construction works by the private sector on large-scale and complex infrastructure projects. Overview Under an EPC c ...

contract was awarded to Guangdong Power Engineering Corporation, a subsidiary of China Energy Engineering Group. The power plant would be designed by

WorleyParsons WorleyParsons Limited, branded as Worley after completing the acquisition of Jacobs' Energy, Chemicals & Resources (ECR) division, is an American Australian engineering company which provides project delivery and consulting services to the ...

. It would use boilers provided by

Foster Wheeler Foster Wheeler AG (formerly Foster Wheeler Inc.) was a Swiss global engineering conglomerate with its principal executive offices in Reading, UK and its registered office in Baar, Canton of Zug, Switzerland. Foster Wheeler was added to the NAS ...

and the turbine and generator by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

References

{{Reflist Proposed fossil fuel power stations Oil shale-fired power stations in Jordan Proposed power stations in Jordan

History

Technical description

Financing

Construction

See also

References