Electricity company scored JD5.5 billion in losses, Noble was “last option”: NEPCO
Shaheennews
National Electricity Power Company (NEPCO) said it still bears previously accumulated debts by about JD5.5 billion, which costs it about JD120 million annually as debt service costs and interests for loans that follow.
NEPCO said contracting with Noble Company (Noble Jordan Marketing_NBL) to supply gas to the Kingdom was the last option after the interruption of Egyptian gas, as supply options were studied from neighboring countries through pipelines and due to the surrounding conditions, this was the only available source.
Despite the construction of the liquefied gas port that contributed to reducing financial losses compared to operating the electrical system using diesel and heavy fuel, this option is not the best option technically and economically for the electrical system, as challenges of dealing with liquefied gas lie in the fluctuation in its global prices to standard ceilings, in addition to the operational risks related to its impact on weather conditions and limited storage capacities, NEPCO’s General Manager, Eng. Amjad Al-Rawashdeh, said in an interview with the Jordan News Agency (Petra).
Al-Rawashdeh added that importing natural gas through pipelines is more reliable, and is the best option and the chance to be affected by the change of oil prices globally will be on a marginal level, in addition to the importance of the option to diversify sources represented by maintaining the LNG project and Egyptian gas in the event that it has quantities available.
He pointed out that it is not possible to import gas from Qatar and Algeria, as there are no joint land borders. As for importing liquefied gas from these countries via ships, an international bid was announce to which most international companies submitted their bids, and the best competitive offers were from Shell International, while Algeria did not submit any offer, while Qatar made a bid that was not competitive and was not the cheapest bid.
