National Grid, Diesel, and Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems in Jordan: An Engineering and Economical Evaluation

Abstract

The energy sector in Jordan depends heavily on imported oil and gas products and as a result, this energy policy put the country in tough economic situations and slowed down industrial growth in the last 15 years. This situation is worsened by the dramatic increase in crude oil prices worldwide and the increased demand on energy consumption. Therefore, it became clear that a new power generation system needs to be considered as an alternative for the national grid electricity and the diesel power generation systems. In this study, three power generation systems were compared: the national grid electricity system, diesel power generation system, and photovoltaic power generation system. From the models built for this study, it was found that the solar energy utilized to generate electricity by using photovoltaic solar panels can provide an alternative power source with lower annual cost than the diesel power generation system. The data analysis shows that the national grid still provides the lowest annual cost compared to the other considered systems in this study based on the current electricity tariff and energy policy that charges high taxes on photovoltaic systems. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to change the energy policy in Jordan by lowering the customs and tax charges by at least 35% on photovoltaic panels, solar batteries, regulators and invertors and any other components that are necessary to build a complete photovoltaic system.