Increasing energy efficiency in the water sector

Project description

Title: Improvement of Energy Efficiency in the Water Sector by optimising operations and maintenance
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Jordan
Lead executing agency: Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ)
Overall term: 2017 to 2021

Context

The population of Jordan has been growing at an above-average rate for years, which is partly due to the influx of refugees from crisis regions. The growing population has also led to a higher demand for water and wastewater services.

At the end of 2015, water consumption for domestic purposes was 456.5 million cubic metres, of which 73 per cent was supplied from more than 750 artesian wells. Many Jordanian consumers are geographically distant from water resources and the challenging hydrogeology and topography contribute to the water sector’s high energy consumption. In fact, the water sector is Jordan’s largest energy consumer, accounting for around 15 per cent of total energy consumption in the country.

High energy consumption together with rapidly growing energy costs is impacting the economic viability of the water supply companies, as the current fees for water do not cover their costs. This is threatening the security of water supply to the population. The National Water Strategy 2016–2025 plans to reduce the energy consumption of the sector by 15 per cent by 2025.

Objective

Through a comprehensive institutional and human capacity development, a tailored energy management system in the water sector is in place and promotes energy efficiency among all actors across the water sector. 

Approach

The project aims to develop and integrate an energy management system within Jordan’s water sector. In this regard, processes and structures will be designed for the sector and implemented according to the ISO50001 standard. This creates an energy efficiency culture and contributes to increasing energy efficiency and hence better cost recovery.

The project focuses on three fields of activity:

  • creating an environment that promotes energy efficiency
  • energy management capacity in the water sector
  • developing and implementing energy efficiency approaches that are ready to upscaling.

The newly developed energy management approaches will be piloted in selected water facilities and departments. The selected water units, for example organisational units or specific service areas will be subject for implementing the optimised energy concepts. The implemented activities should be monitored and analysed to determine good practice for replication.