"The IPP3 power plant is the world's largest diesel engine-powered power generator that will be listed on the Guinness Book of World Records in the future." Amman office head of Korea Electric Power Corp. Bae Young-jin said this, adding, "You may ask why we built a power plant in the middle of a desert. But this is a strategic point encompassing western Israel, southern Egypt, and northern Syria."
The power plant is located in Al Mnakher, 30 kilometers east from the Jordanian capital Amman. Jordan's second-largest plant was completed by KEPCO in October this year. The 38 15,000-kW engines can generate electric power of 570,000 kilowatts. The plant was designed to be run by a variety of fuels in consideration of the country's unstable political situation.
With the completion of the project, KEPCO became the third-largest power generator in Jordan with 24 percent of the market. Its share had been 11 percent before the completion. Thanks to the operation of the IPP3, the country could avoid a blackout in July this year. As the signs of a widespread power shortage appeared, the Jordanian government made a special request to the power plant's managers to run the as-yet-completed plant to avert the serious problem.
Since 2010, KEPCO has won a total of four power plant deals in the Middle East including the Al-Qatrana power plant in Jordan, the Rabigh power plant in Saudi Arabia, the Shuweihat power plant in the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan's IPP3. Mr. Bae of KEPCO Jordan said that his office would bid for the upcoming Salalah 2 project in Oman to be announced at the end of this month. In addition, it is preparing to bid for thermal power plant projects in Qatar and Kuwait.
