300wh power station in China in Jordan

Jordan's Attarat power plant was envisioned as a landmark project promising to provide the desert kingdom with a major source of energy while solidifying its relations with China. But weeks after its official opening, the site, a sea of black, crumbly rock in the barren desert south of Jordan's capital, is instead a source of heated controversy.

If the original agreement holds, Jordan would have to pay China a staggering $8.4 billion over 30 years to buy the electricity generated by the plant. Laborers flown from rural China toil in the shadow of the giant station, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Amman.

Jordan has 33 utility-scale power plants in operation, with a total capacity of 4703.5 MW. This data is a derivitive set of data gathered by source mentioned below. Data and information about power plants in Jordan plotted on an interactive map.

Under their 30-year power purchase deal, Jordan's state-run electricity company will have to buy electricity from the now effectively Chinese-led Attarat at an exorbitant rate that means the Jordanian government would lose $280 million annually, the treasury estimated.

Mohammad Abu Atieh, country manager of CTGI Jordan poses for photos at the Shobak wind farm in the Shobak area, south of Jordan, on Sept. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Ji Ze) The three projects, with a capacity of 156 megawatts, could provide Jordan with 440 million kWh of clean energy in one year, the manager said.

Chinese companies including the CTGI are playing a critical role in Jordan's aspirations of a greener future through environment-friendly power projects, Abu Atieh said. Photo taken on Sept. 19, 2022, shows the Shobak wind farm operated by China Three Gorges International Corporation (CTGI) in the Shobak area, south of Jordan.