232 J. OBEID
be placed in regions with three different dominant powers and sects, and
officials haven’t shied away from declaring the move from one to three
units is for political reasons. The tender for the procurement of the three
units was launched end of May 2018, and the bid offers opening took
place in July 2019, but was not yet awarded in the fall of 2020.
Moreover, the fiscal drain caused by the shortage of electricity supply
has been acknowledged by the succeeding governments for more than
two decades, yet, the sector has never been fixed, and thermal power
plants have not been implemented since the year 1999. Only a minor
total addition of 270 MW took place in 2017. In addition to the fuel
industry, the private diesel generators proliferating due to the shortage
of electricity supply since the year 1994 have grown into a $2 billion
industry that would lose market shares to renewable energy.
There is however a consensus among interviewees that the vested interests and the competition with fossil fuels are a minor factor hindering
the renewable energy progress, compared to the overall inefficiency of
the political systems in both Jordan and Lebanon. Across the energy
sphere, there’s cultural resistance, regardless of educational attainment,
to renewable energy, by individuals used to doing things in a certain way,
who believe that renewables are too complex to integrate, or worse, that
they are a myth. The share of young generation, typically more open to
new approaches and technologies, is trivial in government, policy, and
decision-making.
Triggering Regional Rivalry
On the regional level, alternative energy may increase the prospects for
electricity exchange across interconnected grids, which may also subject
these countries to a risk of political instability, and a switch of vulnerability from a supply disruption caused by pipeline wars, to one caused by
grid wars. Yet, it may also be a driver of more regional cooperation and
mutual interdependence. The opportunity is especially there for Jordan to
become an exporter of electricity, provided the infrastructure is developed
and the politics permit the power exchange.
With its current excess of power generation, Jordan needs to export
electricity to neighboring countries. If this opportunity is presented, the
kingdom can leapfrog renewable energy implementation and move from
a petroleum importer to an electricity exporter, such as exporting to
Iraq. In fact, developing an electricity exchange market will be a major
be placed in regions with three different dominant powers and sects, and
officials haven’t shied away from declaring the move from one to three
units is for political reasons. The tender for the procurement of the three
units was launched end of May 2018, and the bid offers opening took
place in July 2019, but was not yet awarded in the fall of 2020.
Moreover, the fiscal drain caused by the shortage of electricity supply
has been acknowledged by the succeeding governments for more than
two decades, yet, the sector has never been fixed, and thermal power
plants have not been implemented since the year 1999. Only a minor
total addition of 270 MW took place in 2017. In addition to the fuel
industry, the private diesel generators proliferating due to the shortage
of electricity supply since the year 1994 have grown into a $2 billion
industry that would lose market shares to renewable energy.
There is however a consensus among interviewees that the vested interests and the competition with fossil fuels are a minor factor hindering
the renewable energy progress, compared to the overall inefficiency of
the political systems in both Jordan and Lebanon. Across the energy
sphere, there’s cultural resistance, regardless of educational attainment,
to renewable energy, by individuals used to doing things in a certain way,
who believe that renewables are too complex to integrate, or worse, that
they are a myth. The share of young generation, typically more open to
new approaches and technologies, is trivial in government, policy, and
decision-making.
Triggering Regional Rivalry
On the regional level, alternative energy may increase the prospects for
electricity exchange across interconnected grids, which may also subject
these countries to a risk of political instability, and a switch of vulnerability from a supply disruption caused by pipeline wars, to one caused by
grid wars. Yet, it may also be a driver of more regional cooperation and
mutual interdependence. The opportunity is especially there for Jordan to
become an exporter of electricity, provided the infrastructure is developed
and the politics permit the power exchange.
With its current excess of power generation, Jordan needs to export
electricity to neighboring countries. If this opportunity is presented, the
kingdom can leapfrog renewable energy implementation and move from
a petroleum importer to an electricity exporter, such as exporting to
Iraq. In fact, developing an electricity exchange market will be a major