News

10 December 2008

 

Amelio Solar forms Jordan JV for Gigawatt-scale thin-film PV project

The Al-Husseini Group, a diversified real-estate, industrial and trading organization based in Amman, Jordan, and Amelio Solar of Ewing, NJ, USA, a developer of thin-film photovoltaic module technologies and related manufacturing and power generation solutions, have formed a joint venture to bring large-scale PV energy production capacity to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in cooperation with the government and the national utility. Unlike most neighboring countries in the region, Jordan has no significant oil reserves.

The JV has launched a multi-year project to construct a 1 Gigawatt PV power generation plant in Jordan. The JV will first deploy and operate an integrated factory that will serve as a dedicated, low-cost supply of thin-film amorphous silicon, CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) and related hybrid PV modules using a manufacturing platform created and installed by Amelio Solar. Over a three-year installation period, the factory should reach an annual module manufacturing capacity of 200MW, beginning with a 22MW manufacturing line to be completed in 2009. The modules will be used mainly in the construction of the PV power generation plant, designed by Amelio Solar, which should reach a total power generation capacity of 1GW by 2017. The factory also will supply PV modules for export to other Amelio Solar PV power generation projects around the world and for sale on the open market.

“We are pleased to be introducing to our country this strategic technology and production platform, and we are grateful for the leadership and support of his Majesty King Abdullah and the cooperation of the Ministry of Energy in this important effort,” says Al-Husseini Group’s CEO Omar Al-Husseini. “Our joint venture is bringing this capability to Jordan on a scale that will provide a truly cost-competitive, renewable source of electricity for today and the future, as well as a foundation for industrial growth in the new energy economy.”

The project represents the largest implementation to date of Amelio Solar’s manufacturing-integrated platform for low-cost construction of PV power generation capacity, says the firm’s chairman & founder Dr Zoltan Kiss. “The market has come a long way in the 25 years since our team built one of the world’s first thin-film photovoltaic module factory and power plant,” he adds. “Jordan’s progressive business environment, technical capabilities and vast solar resources are an ideal combination for a large-scale solar energy program using thin-film photovoltaics.”

See related item:

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