InfraMed, a key infrastructure fund from leading Arab investment bank EFG Hermes, has made a $40 million investment in Jordan’s first utility-scale wind farm which will help boost the country’s total power generation capacity by three per cent.

Announcing this on Monday, EFG Hermes said this strategic investment will give InfraMed a 50 per cent stake in the Jordan Wind Project Company (JWPC), which is building the 117 MW Tafila Wind Farm.

JWPC is a co-development between InfraMed; Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company which has a 31 per cent stake and EP Global Energy, a development company specializing in renewable energy projects owned Cyrus’ Paraskevaides Group of Companies with 19 per cent share.

On completion, the $290 million Tafila project will be producing 400 GWh of electricity annually. The pro-environment project will also displace 235,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

“Renewable and alternative energy projects are not just key features of a greener Mena region, but a critical part of the Arab world’s future energy security,” remarked Karim Moussa, the co-head of Private Equity at EFG Hermes and member of InfraMed’s Investment Committee.

“This investment in the region’s first utility-scale wind farm underlines the commitment of InfraMed and EFG Hermes to renewable energy as we look to help nations meet rising demand for power while curbing their carbon footprints,” he noted.

InfraMed is the largest investment vehicle dedicated to infrastructure investments in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region and is advised by EFG Hermes.

EFG Hermes is one of five global and regional founding sponsors that together contributed 385 million euros to establish the fund, alongside Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the European Investment Bank, and Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion.

Commenting on the stake buy, InfraMed CEO Frederic Ottavy, said:"The Tafila project is responding to Jordan’s pressing energy needs while adapting to the country’s unique fossil fuel resource situation, water scarcity and abundance of wind. InfraMed and other leading international players’ involvement demonstrates the project’s economic viability and sets a benchmark for the future implementation of projects under the country's clean energy law."

The high-profile transaction follows InfraMed’s acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in a 36-year concession to operate Iskenderun Port on Turkey’s Eastern Mediterranean shore and a $100 million commitment made last year to the Egyptian Refining Company, which is building a $3.7 billion greenfield petroleum refinery.-TradeArabia News Service