Jordan - Environment: A grant to operate 500 photovoltaics for farmers

Weather of Arabia - The Ministry of Environment, in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and implemented by the Royal Scientific Society, invited owners of agricultural units in the Jordan Valley regions to benefit from a project to design, install, operate and receive 500 solar photovoltaic systems, with the aim of operating surface water pumps in the agricultural sector.

According to the announcement published in daily newspapers, this comes within the framework of a European Union grant allocated to support the green economy, which is part of the ministry’s projects to mitigate the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector. The announcement confirmed that the project includes operating the pumps using solar energy instead of traditional energy.

The project requires that the owners of the beneficiary agricultural units participate in 20 percent of the costs of implementing the photovoltaic system, in order to ensure the seriousness of the beneficiary and the continuity of the system’s work.

Priority is allocated to agricultural units that rely on diesel only and are not connected to the electrical grid, then to agricultural units that do not have an electrical subscription.

The details of the announcement stated: The Ministry of Environment, in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and implemented by the Royal Scientific Society, invites owners of agricultural units in all regions of the Jordan Valley to benefit from the project “Design, supply, install, operate and receive 500 solar photovoltaic systems to operate surface water pumps in the agricultural sector as part of a European Union grant.” To support the green economy in Jordan, which comes within the projects of the Ministry of Environment to mitigate the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector, as the project includes operating surface water pumps using solar energy instead of traditional energy.

The project requires that the owners of the beneficiary agricultural units must contribute an amount of 20% of the costs of implementing its photovoltaic system in order to ensure the seriousness of the beneficiary and the continuity of the work of the solar photovoltaic system. The priority to benefit will be for agricultural units that operate on diesel only and are not served by the electrical network, then agricultural units that do not have an electrical subscription. Knowing that the project will go through the following technical stages:

• First: Applications to benefit from the grant must be submitted by owners of agricultural units interested in the project no later than Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 12:00 noon, and no application will be accepted after this date.
• Second: An initial screening of requests for benefit is carried out by the project’s technical committee based on the criteria specified for this purpose.
• Third: An initial evaluation of agricultural units is conducted by the Royal Scientific Society within technical standards agreed upon by the project parties.
• Fourth: Nominate 500 agricultural units to benefit from the grant, conduct a technical study for them, and conduct evaluation field visits to them.
• Fifth: Notifying the agricultural unit owner of his eligibility to benefit from the grant and requesting payment of his above-mentioned contribution within a maximum period of two weeks from the date of his notification.
• Sixth: Offering bids to implement the project in accordance with the instructions and bidding regulations of the Royal Scientific Society and with the participation of the project parties and the relevant regulatory authorities.

Accordingly, this grant is an opportunity to conduct an integrated study of the agricultural unit to demonstrate the benefits of solar photovoltaic systems and exploit them efficiently. Therefore, if you wish to participate, please review the criteria for selecting units and the required requirements and conditions published on the Ministry’s website or the Ministry’s social media sites, fill out the interest form and submit the necessary documents no later than Thursday, 1/4/2024 at 12:00 noon and submit it. At the Public Service Office - the Ministry of Environment building, Um Athar Amman, or at the Directorates of Operation and Maintenance of the Northern, Central, or Southern Jordan Valley or the Southern Shuna of the Jordan Valley Authority. You will be provided with all the details of the stages as soon as possible, knowing that this project will be the first stage of a series of upcoming projects in order to improve Social status of farmers and dissemination of the concept of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

If you have any inquiries, please contact the Head of the Mitigation Section, Climate Change Directorate - Ministry of Environment, at 065560113, extension No. 104/105, or via the following email: Solarpvp@moenv.gov.jo