The Jordan River Foundation (JRF) has selected 70 community-based organizations (CBOs) to which citizens can apply to benefit from a project to install solar panels in households.
The names and addresses of the CBOs, which are distributed across the country's 12 governorates, will be announced before the end of this month, JRF Director General Ghaleb Qudah told The Jordan Times.
The 70 CBOs were selected out of 300 that applied to be part of the nationwide initiative, under which they will contract with solar panel manufacturers and sell the devices to interested families through installments, Qudah said.
He added that the JRF, in cooperation with the Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology and partners in the initiative, has set the criteria and specifications for the solar panels.
A tender is expected to be floated before the end of July for the supply of 2,000 solar panels under the first phase of the initiative, Qudah said.
The submission of applications to benefit from the initiative was supposed to be in June, but was delayed pending final approval of the project's higher committee, he noted, adding that the committee is expected to meet soon.
The JRF will give the money to the CBOs, which will be in charge of buying the solar panels for citizens and collecting monthly installments from them.
The project envisages the installation of 2,500 solar panels in 2013 and another 1,000 in 2014, with a target of 5,000 over the next five years, according to the JRF.
It will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which will provide the JRF with the required funds.
Jordan Times
22 July
