At the official opening ceremony of KACO new energy Jordan at the Landmark Amman Hotel & Conference Centre on 23rd of April 2016, Mr. Ralf Hofmann, CEO of KACO new energy together with Eng. Eyad Hanania, CEO of the Jordanian subsidiary, welcomed over 60 invited guests from businesses, politics and the media; amongst them the Secretary General Of the Jordanian Ministry Of Energy and Mineral Resources, Eng. Amani Alazzam.
"We are pleased that our new subsidiary can support Jordan's sustainable development and that we can implement projects in this region of vast potential", stated Eng. Eyad Hanania. This Kingdom has the highest solar irradiation in the world; at an estimated 330 days of sunshine and an average global irradiation of about 2.0 MWh per square meter.
Under his leadership, KACO new energy is already based on a solid structure with lengthy PV experience. The CEO is supported by two service technicians and an assistant; a project engineer planner will also strengthen the team soon. The subsidiary will principally sell the blueplanet 10.0 TL3 inverter in the residential area, the blueplanet 50.0 TL3 INT in the commercial sector and the blueplanet 2200 TL3 for utility-scale business. In that way KACO new energy can serve local demands for quality inverters and exceptional "Made in Germany" energy services on-site. The company can already showcase some successful reference projects such as the 162 kW system at the Al Manal Palace, the residence of HRH Prince Mohammad bin Talal.
Eng. Hanania highlights two particular competitive advantages: "Firstly we are the only inverter manufacturer who can currently provide local service; our technicians have long-standing experience in the PV sector. Secondly, we also consider ourselves to be a long-term partner and we will be there for our customers for the whole lifespan of the PV system and certainly well beyond the current 2019 agenda."
Representatives of the Saudi-Arabia based Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), with whom KACO new energy has already constructed a manufacturing facility in Riyadh, also took the opportunity of commending the cooperation: "Jordan is an important market and its ever-increasing demand for renewable energy is clearly recognizable. In KACO new energy, we have the most suitable technological partner in this highly-interesting market", said Mr. Adil Omair, Senior Manager of the AEC Solar Energy Division.
Jordan does not possess any mineral resources worth mentioning and currently depends on imports for 97% of its energy requirements – in particular on unreliable natural gas supplies from Egypt. So far this has covered 80% of the energy generation needs. Owing to the growth of both the economy and the population, the country has now set itself the target of using its enormous solar energy potential. At the end of June 2015, the government issued an invitation to tender for the construction of solar plants and wind parks totaling a 317 MW output. According to Ibrahim Saif, the Minister for Energy, the agreed upon projects will be concluded by 2018. The Jordanian government hopes in that way to increase the amount of energy generated from renewable sources from about 1% to 15%, in order to get to grips with the energy crisis by 2020.
"As one of the few inverter manufacturers who can offer a suitable solution for any size of plant – ranging from 250 watts right up to the megawatt class – we foresee the best chances for our market entry", stated Mr. Ralf Hofmann. It is a lucrative market: Eng. Amani Alazzam announced in her presentation that she wishes to expand the grid so that a further 1.5 GW of renewable energy can be implemented from 2019 onwards.
About KACO new energy:
KACO new energy is amongst the world’s largest manufacturers of solar inverters. With offices in 16 countries, the company offers inverters for every array size from the smallest homes to the largest solar farms of hundreds of Megawatts. KACO new energy is based in Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart, Germany and the production facilities there, in the Americas and Asia have supplied around eight Gigawatts of inverters since 1999. The company was the first inverter manufacturer to achieve fully carbon-neutral production and is rapidly heading towards power self-sufficiency. KACO new energy also supplies energy storage systems and battery inverters, as well as inverters for PV-Diesel hybrid systems and combined heat and power plants. In 2014, KACO new energy celebrated the centenary of the original company which was one of the first suppliers of inverters in the late 1930s. Read more at www.kaco-newenergy.com