On 27 February 2023, Monday EDAMA collaborated with the USAID – Energy Sector Support Activity (ESSA) to hold a power breakfast entitled; Energy Transition Pathways in Jordan: from Strategy to Reality. The event’s objective was to highlight the aspirations and goals Jordan will be fulfilling in the upcoming years to transition from our dependency on conventional sources of energy and into renewable energy streams. The panel hosted H.E. Saleh Al-Karabsheh The Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources, Mr. Hanna Zaghloul on behalf of the private sector being the CEO of Kawar energy and a member of EDAMA board, Mr. Richard Longstaff in his capacity as a Managing Director – Deloitte USA, and moderated by Ruba Al Zubi the Private Sector Lead In ESSA-USAID.
Dr. Dureid Mahasneh EDAMA chairman announced the beginning of the event by welcoming the guests as well as confirming the significance of taking an active role as an environmental business association to address the challenges acting as a barrier to reach to Jordan’s goals in transitioning from conventional energy into renewable energy resources further to that, EDAMA playing an integral role in maintaining an open dialogue among the concerned parties in the sector to ensure supporting this matter.
H.E. Saleh Al Karabsheh stated that; in the previous year Jordan was able to transition into a solid 27% dependency on renewable energy in generating our electricity needs. As we are planning to reach 31% by 2030 and hopefully a 50% seeing that the transition, we are witnessing is rapid. We are currently revisiting our strategy and finding the best possible means to utilize local renewable resources and that we fulfill our duties towards climate change as a country. Moreover, the ministry is currently acting on reviewing the legislative framework to create an enabling environment for the private sector and other entities to operate smoothly.
Mr. Richard Longstaff shared success stories from the United States. As Jordan is a prominent country when it comes to the skills and competencies in the green sector yet there is a fundamental requirement that all projects and entities are connected and are moving forward towards the same goal and under the umbrella of a system that supports growth.
Finally, Mr. Hanna highlighted the importance of keeping an eye on the future and moving forward as we have a strong foundation when it comes to the ICT sector and building on will bring about a noticeable return on investment. It is also important to learn from the past as transitioning in the usage of different energy sources has been a continuous matter man moved throughout history and every transition leads to economic wins that reflect positively on societies.
We look forward to energy independence as a country and we believe that Jordan will not only become leading when it comes to green technologies and solutions but will also be recognized internationally and locally.
