Masdar Inaugurates 200MW Baynouna Solar Park in Jordan

• Masdar, in partnership with the Jordanian government, has formally inaugurated the 200-megawatt Baynouna Solar Park – the largest clean energy project in Jordan. The project will provide access to clean energy, create jobs and ensure economic growth.

What happened? 

On March 1st, 2021, Masdar, in partnership with the Jordanian government, formally inaugurated the 200-megawatt Baynouna Solar Park – the largest clean energy project in Jordan. The inauguration was held in the presence of Bisher Al-Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan, and was attended by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate, and Chairman of Masdar; Dr. Saleh Al Kharabsheh, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources; and Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UAE to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

Why does it matter? 

The Baynouna Solar Park will contribute to Jordan’s climate targets, provide access to clean energy, create jobs and ensure economic growth. It produces over 560 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy annually – enough to power 160,000 homes – and displaces 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to taking nearly 80,000 cars off the road. It will also help Jordan to produce 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and will support its goal of increasing that to 50 percent by the end of the decade. 

What's next? 

Masdar also operates the 117 MW Tafila Wind Farm, which was completed in 2015 – the first commercial utility-scale wind project in the Middle East. In November 2022, Masdar signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to explore the development of a further 2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects in the country. The energy transition is a central component of the UAE’s priorities as it prepares to host the 28th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in November-December.