POWER September 2013 - 32

TOP PLANTS
Amman East Power Plant,
Al Manakher, Jordan
Owner/operator: AES Jordan PSC
Courtesy: AES Corp.
The Kingdom of Jordan's first independent power plant set a standard for safe construction
and operation across the Middle East. As a pioneer in independent power
production and as a leader in safe electricity generation, AES Corp.'s Amman East
Power Plant is a POWER Top Plant.
By David Wagman
A
ES Corp.'s $300 million, 370-MW
gas-fired Amman East Power Plant
entered commercial service in 2008
and was the first independent power plant in
Jordan. The Jordanian government considers
Amman East an important component in its
efforts to reduce the country's reliance on imported
oil and to achieve a more sustainable
energy balance.
AES and its construction partners also
established a high standard of safety in the
country and across the Middle East by completing
the project without any life lost and
without any major incident or accident. Because
of this safety record, the power plant
has received multiple awards, including the
British Safety Award and a Top 10 power
plant award for the Middle East and North
Africa. The construction team received a
Golden Hard Hat award in 2009 for delivering
the generating plant on time (and, incidentally,
$15 million under budget) with no
lost time incidents recorded for the duration
of the construction project.
32
For its path-breaking achievement as Jordan's
first independent power plant, and for
its outstanding safety record, the AES Amman
East Power Plant is a POWER Top Plant.
AES Corp., which built the plant and is a
majority owner, is a diversified power generation
and distribution company based in
Arlington, Va. Founded in 1981 as one of
the first independent power producers in the
U.S., the company helped pioneer private
investment in power generation and distribution
in many countries. The company ranks
as one of the world's leading power companies
and operates in both stable and highgrowth
markets, with operating capabilities
across diverse fuel types and technologies.
As of this past June, the company had assets
worth $45 billion and an installed generating
capacity of 38,400 MW in 23 countries. Its
2012 revenues were $18 billion.
Power Sector Emergence and
Independence
Jordan traces its electricity sector to the
www.powermag.com
1930s, and the country's electricity is provided
through the National Electric Power Co.
(NEPCO). Jordan became an independent
country in the mid-20th century, but it previously
had been part of the Ottoman Empire,
and for a time was under British rule. According
to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Fact Book, following World War I and the end
of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations
awarded Britain the mandate to govern
much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated
a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan
from Palestine in the early 1920s. The area
gained its independence in 1946 and became
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The country's long-time ruler, King Hussein,
successfully navigated competing pressures
from the U.S., USSR, and UK, various
Arab states, Israel, and a large internal Palestinian
population. King Abdullah II, King
Hussein's eldest son, assumed the throne following
his father's death in 1999. He implemented
a number of political and economic
reforms, but in the wake of the 2011 " Arab
POWER | September 2013

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POWER September 2013

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