Mubadala-backed Alcazar Energy begins operations at its wind farm in Jordan

The 45MW Shobak wind project can power more than 30,000 homes every year

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Dubai’s Alcazar Energy, backed by Mubadala Investment Company, said on Monday that it started the commercial operation of its wind farm in Jordan.

The 45-megawatt Shobak project, located in the southern governorate Ma’an, was developed in partnership with Hecate Energy, a US-based renewable energy company.

The project can power more than 30,000 homes in the country every year, Alcazar Energy said.

“This project ... reaffirms Alcazar Energy’s role in supporting the kingdom of Jordan not only to meet its rising demand for electricity in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner, but also to create jobs and empower local communities," Daniel Calderon, co-founder and chief executive of Alcazar Energy, said.

The wind farm is jointly financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the Europe Arab Bank. Alcazar did not disclose the total investment in the project.

“The Shobak wind farm is a great example of how a public-private partnership can work for the benefit of all stakeholders,” Harry Boyd-Carpenter, head of energy, Europe, Middle East and Africa, from the EBRD said. “We are delighted to have been able to support this further addition of renewable generating capacity to Jordan’s remarkable green transition.”

Alcazar Energy, which has its headquarters at Dubai International Financial Centre and two regional offices in Jordan and Egypt, is owned by BluStone Management, Dash Ventures International and Mubadala Infrastructure Partners. The IFC and the IFC Asset Management Company, both part of the World Bank Group, also have a stake each in the firm.

The Shobak wind project represents Alcazar Energy’s third fully operational renewable energy project in Jordan and supports the kingdom’s National Energy Strategy to achieve 20 per cent of its energy needs from renewable resources by 2025, the statement said.

The company also operates six other renewable energy projects across the Middle East, Africa and Turkey (META) region.