Ammon News - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Jordan’s National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) with a $100 million financing package to help the firm address working capital constraints by replacing short-term debt financing borrowed at the first peak of the COVID-19 crisis in the spring with a longer-term facility.

The proceeds will support NEPCO’s financial position, according to an EBRD statement.

With funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the EBRD will also support NEPCO in an apprenticeship programme to promote career opportunities for women and young professionals, taking the opportunity of this pandemic-related support to build a more inclusive energy sector.

In 2014, Jordan embarked on a very ambitious renewable energy programme. By 2020, the Kingdom had exceeded its original renewable energy target of 10 per cent of generated energy, with the figure now standing at 20 per cent. Jordan is working towards a new goal of 30 per cent by 2030, the statement said.

NEPCO is the “key actor” in the energy sector as it owns and operates the electricity transmission system. The company has been at the heart of Jordan’s renewable energy transition, using private capital and skills to unlock the country’s wind and solar resources, according to the statement.

Since the start of its operations in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has provided close to 1.4 billion euros in 58 projects, including more than 535 million euros in 14 loans to projects in the country’s energy sector, the statement said.