Demand Of Solar PV Will Increase Exponentially in Jordan’s Market
The webinar was held by EQ Magazine Pro on March 9, 2022, powered by LONGi Solar and moderated by Samer Zawaydeh, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Regulatory Framework Expert. In this webinar, Jordan’s rooftop and distributed solar market outlook was discussed by the panellists.
LONGi is the number one solar company in the world. In 2020, it became the first solar technology company to ship more than 20 GW modules annually which is almost equal to the installed capacity of the largest hydroelectric power plant. The reliable performance of its solar modules makes LONGi the leading light in moving the world towards a green and sustainable energy future, across six continents and 85 countries.
Mr Samer Zawaydeh, the moderator of the webinar welcomed the panellists and said, “It’s always a great pleasure to have an esteemed panel like this, talking about renewable energy and especially solar PV rooftops. Jordan started its journey in the rooftop market in 2012 after issuing the renewable energy and energy efficiency law and since then we have all kinds of projects such as rooftops, ground-mounted, metal buildings, car canopies and especially during 2021 the installation skyrocketed which was equivalent to two the installation that happened in Jordan during the past eight years. So the demand and need for renewable energy are high while the prices are low compared to other types of fossil fuel.
We believe that the demand for solar PV will continue to increase especially in light of the present escalation of oil prices so right now we are seeing prices close to 130 U.S. dollars per barrel. This is a challenging time and also the right time for renewable energy to spearhead again as the future fuel. We have great speakers for today who will provide us with the their insight their experience of over 10 years in the Jordanian market and I’m very happy to introduce our first speaker Basma Alshatti, Head of Social Responsibilities Section, Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund, who is awarded as the best employee of the month at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.”
When asked about the exponential growth of the solar PV market in Jordan would not have been possible without the excellent regulations that the Ministry of Energy issued in 2012. What the market is expecting in the near future regarding energy storage?
She said, “This is a huge question for the sector as a whole. Storage for renewable energy as a commercial size as well as for consumption size. As it is still under research so there are no sights about what will be done but it will be announced by this year. Also I want you to know that there is another huge project in parallel for developing that solution and to develop it to smarter grids. This will also accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in our country.”
On the question of electrification of the energy as the oil prices are going up and the use of other natural resources especially the sun. So are there any plans of electrification of other fuels?
She said, “After covering, we are facing a huge problem or instability of the value chain in the market which affects a project in 10 days and I think suppliers can see that. Now because of the fuel prices we have to be more dependent on our resources and the Sun’s energy is vulnerable. There is a regulation to regulate storage in different sizes. This will increase the adoption of renewable energy.”
Mr Salem Abuzeid, CEO, Gazania Group, presented his insights on the new technologies for the Solar PV modules, inverters and other components available in the local and international market. He said, “For the last couple of years we’ve been getting the higher efficiency modules. Also, we have shifted our preferences from polycrystalline to monocrystalline modules. We’re using modules with higher outputs and efficiencies. We’re dealing with all kind of 158, 82, 166 and 210 cell modules, whose efficiencies are very much the same. We are focused on the module size rather than the efficiency. I think one of the biggest challenges that we have in the Jordan market is that we don’t have any vision about the market size. We all are challenged in terms of planning. We don’t know what the market size is going to be.
We don’t know what the strategy is so we can make it. I think one of the biggest advantage of solar as compared to other sources of energy is the implementation is the fast from start to finish, a project can be done in 2 weeks which is not even possible to think when you talk about conventional fossil fuel type power generation but lack of visibility on what the future holds for the sector is making all of us procrastinate. It makes us reluctant to make the investment in the materials, to be able to stock large quantities.”
Further he added his vision for PV module recycling plant and said, “When we reach a point where the module effectiveness or module operational functionality are, then we have to think about what we do with these older modules. This is something that really has not been addressed and we do not have any incentive for anybody to even consider. Replacement is really a function of financial payback analysis. But the broken modules has not been addressed and there’s not any incentive scheme today for anybody to make the investment in looking at recycling in terms of preparing or repairing this model.”
Ms. Haleel Al-Qatarneh, Steel Sales Manager, Philadelphia Solar LTD talked about Philadelphia’s solar achievements in the past ten years. She said, “In Philadelphia, Solar started in 2007. That means we have completed 15 years in the market. We started with an annual capacity of 10 megawatts and then now we are at 500 megawatts which means that this is the largest production capacity in the Middle East and North Africa. Almost every year we have to do some upgrading on the production lines just to keep up with the upgrading technology on the solar panels manufacturing. Currently, our strategy is to penetrate more markets in the world. We have reached around 52 countries all over the world. We are working on different businesses, the first one is solar panel manufacturing, the second one is mounting structured manufacturing which was started in 2014 and currently, we are working on the EPC management from Jordan to several projects abroad. We are also developing for some projects here in Jordan. For 4-5 years the major here in Jordan is the rooftop systems while in Philadelphia solar, we provide full packages for the rooftop systems. We can design the mounting structure based on each location requirements, also we can provide the solar panels to and also the inverters. We have a full package for any kind of project.”
On asking about the different types of materials available options for supporting structure. She told, “Types of mounting structures mainly depend on the installation type of solar plan. We’re talking about options for the protection from corrosion. if we are choosing some cold form the sections then it will definitely be pre-galvanised steel and if we talk about large sections in Jordan then there’s no high capacities, no high competitive prices for the galvanization. Many companies go to the painted steel and for the painting we always recommend to use the three epoxy layers, each layer consists of specific thickness just to resist the corrosion. Some locations with salty conditions and high humidity lead to higher corrosion rates so we have to go for the more thick coating.”
Mr Faisal AbuZaid Senior Power Generation Engineer, National Electric Power Company, told about the activities of ETC centre. He said, “ETC stands for Electrical Training Centre established in Jordan in 1986. So it is now around 40 years old. Its major goal was to provide a high quality hand on training for the people who are working in the electricity sector in general and in medium voltage and high voltage in specific. Nowadays, ETC is expanding the scope for the new era to include renewable energy and smart solutions into the training centre. You can’t find a person who’s working in the electrical sector and not trained at ETC directly or indirectly. So, whether he trained in the ETC or trained by people who trained in the ETC. It is a great foundation for the electrical sector in Jordan. Nowadays, ETC is related to the new projects related to the renewable energy and smart solutions in training courses.”
