Sixty-six industrial companies signed agreements on Tuesday at the Amman Chamber of Industry building as part of the program supporting the implementation of energy efficiency technologies for the industrial sector, executed by the Jordan Chamber of Industry through the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Unit in partnership with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, emphasized the government's belief in the importance of the industrial sector as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development, contributing to achieving desired growth rates in the economic modernization vision, generating new job opportunities, and addressing unemployment challenges. He added that the ministry is committed to alleviating burdens on all economic sectors, especially the industrial sector, to enable its facilities to perform their roles as primary economic drivers. He noted that the energy savings achieved by other sectors through fund programs have reached about 60 percent. He pointed out that Jordan's energy intensity index is higher than the global average by about 20-25 percent, underscoring the need to focus on energy consumption reduction, which poses a challenge for some manufacturers. He also mentioned the natural gas delivery program to factories, which started with the Risha Gas Field reaching industrial areas in Al-Qweira, Rawda, Muqar, Mafraq, and Hashimiya. Eng. Fathi Al-Jaghbeer, President of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, stated that the government recognizes the importance of the industrial sector, evident in the continuous meetings between His Majesty and sector representatives. He added that the industrial chambers and the ministry agree on the importance of energy for the industrial sector, and the progress and competitiveness improvements resulting from supported agreements. During the previous stages of the program, approximately 55 industrial facilities benefited from technical and financial services, especially since energy audit procedures in these facilities revealed significant opportunities for energy savings. Al-Jaghbeer highlighted that the industry serves as a key ambassador for the kingdom, with its products reaching about 142 countries and being the primary employer, with an employment rate of up to 13 per facility. Dr. Rasmi Hamza, Director-General of the Fund, expressed pride in the partnership with the industrial sector, considering it a significant milestone in public-private partnership projects. He emphasized the importance of transitioning from merely using renewable energy sources to energy consumption reduction. The program aims to encourage all industrial facilities to conduct energy audit studies to identify energy consumption sources and possible opportunities for optimization and consumption reduction. It also aims to incentivize targeted categories across all sectors to invest in energy efficiency through program support, after identifying possible savings opportunities and conducting energy audit studies, in addition to reducing production costs for factories, especially electricity costs, by directing them towards consumption reduction and improving the efficiency of energy sources used to enhance their competitiveness. The program provides advice and counseling on promoting energy consumption reduction culture and improving energy sources efficiency to preserve the environment without high investment costs, in addition to providing direct technical support through specialized companies. The program relies on the factory's implementation of a comprehensive energy audit study that highlights the main energy consumers in the facility, describes the factory's status in detail for all systems and devices used, and provides recommended energy consumption reduction measures with detailed and clear calculations of expected energy consumption cost savings, investment costs in the optimization field, and the expected payback period for each measure. The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund provides support to factories through the program, covering 100 percent of the energy audit study's value, with the factory having the freedom to choose the energy audit company provided it is licensed to perform energy audit activities, and the study's value does not exceed 10,000 Jordanian Dinars. The Fund covers the interest on the loan taken by the factory to implement the energy audit study's outputs (energy-saving measures), allowing the factory to obtain a loan of 35,000 Jordanian Dinars from one of the Fund's accredited banks, with a repayment period not exceeding 5 years, in addition to guaranteeing 70 percent of the loan amount in cooperation with the Loan Guarantee Corporation according to the agreements signed between the Fund and the Corporation. The industrial sector ranks fourth in final energy consumption, consuming approximately 938 thousand tons of oil equivalent, reaching 14 percent in 2017, according to the energy balance sheet published by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for 2018. The sector also consumes up to 22 percent of electricity consumption after the residential sector.

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