Cowater International Inc., in partnership with the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF), in association with Jordan River Foundation (JRF), and supported by Canadian Solar Inc., Econoler Inc. and the Canadian Institute for Energy Training (CIET) have designed and will implement this comprehensive four-year initiative (2016-2020) that aims to drive sustainable economic growt
h in Jordan through the accomplishment of several key results: (i) improved living conditions and livelihoods for women and men in the Jordan Valley and Ajloun region by introducing renewable energy and energy efficient solutions at household level thereby decreasing the share of household resources devoted to energy and increasing income generation opportunities; (ii) increased skills and employment prospects for workers in Jordan’s renewable energy and energy efficiency (RE&EE) sector; and (iii) a stronger enabling environment for the growth of a robust RE sector in Jordan. Demonstrating the Canadian advantage, this project will be managed and led by Cowater International of Ottawa and be guided by technical and capacity building inputs from Canadian firms and institutions at the leading edge of the RE&EE sector. In addition, solar energy equipment will be Canadian sourced. This project will directly benefit over 160,000 people of the Jordan Valley and Ajloun region, many benefiting from solar PV panels and/or solar hot water heaters. The project will specifically target women by prioritizing women’s roles in training and marketing RE&EE in their communities and households. Middle and low-income communities will also be prioritized, including those in ‘poverty pockets’ characterized by high levels of poverty such as in Deir Alla (Tewal al Janoubi and Tewal Shamani), Shoneh Shamali, Arjaan, Kasabak, Kofranja and Sakra to name a few. Employment generation will be achieved through skills training, internships, strengthening of Jordan’s Vocational Training Corporation and support to SME development, entrepreneurship and innovation in the RE&EE sector. In doing so the project will also support JREEEF’s efforts to promote and scale up the use of RE solutions across Jordan with the aim of reducing the financial and environmental costs of fossil fuel derived energy consumption. Including direct support from JREEEF, the anticipated project budget will be CAD 22M (JOD 12.4M) over 4 years.
