First Solar has completed construction of the Middle East’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant.
The 52.5 MW Shams Ma’an power plant in Jordan was developed and constructed by First Solar and consists of over 600 000 thin film modules. It is owned by a consortium of investors and will sell its output to Jordan’s National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
First Solar contributed to the development of Shams Ma’an before divesting its stake and being appointed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The solar farm will account for around one per cent of Jordan’s total energy generating capacity.
The project takes First Solar’s installed capacity in the Middle East to over 70 MW with a further 200 MW to be added when the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is completed in 2017. The firm employed a workforce made up almost entirely of Jordanian workers during construction, and spent more than 40 000 man-hours on training, it said.
“Shams Ma’an has facilitated the transfer of several gigawatts of First Solar’s knowledge and experience to Jordan. Our hope is that the skills acquired through this project will further enable Jordan’s solar energy ambitions,” said Dr. Raed Bkayrat, First Solar’s Vice President of Business Development for the Middle East.
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