KBW Investments pens Jordan LED pacts
Dubai-based KBW Investments (KBW) has signed two PPP and BOT agreements in Jordan that pave the way for large-scale LED adoption countrywide and in the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).
The initiatives, spearheaded by KBW Investments founder and Chairman HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, entail two respective LED installation agreements that are preceded by the construction of a new LED factory.
The PPP and BOT agreements follow two separate Memorandums of Understanding signed by Prince Khaled in 2015.
Phase one of the first agreement involves installation of 100,000 LED units across the Jordanian countryside and city outskirts. The units are to be produced by the new LED factory employing approximately 80 people, 95 percent of whom are Jordanian.
The factory, developed as a PPP and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project together with two Jordanian governmental entities is currently under construction and has an expected completion timeframe of three months.
The second agreement involves LED street lighting replacing another 115,000 units within GAMs borders, and a solar pv power plant for future energy security and energy savings.
The chief driving force behind KBWs investment activities in Jordan are twofold: energy security and fostering the reduction of energy consumption. KBW Investments partnered with Leotek, a subsidiary of Taiwanese multibillion dollar technology manufacturer LITE-ON Group, two years ago with the ultimate goal of bringing efficient, transformative technological solutions to the region. This is Leoteks first project of this size and scale, said Prince Khaled.
After undertaking research into PPP regulations together with Jordanian investment laws, the plans were developed as joint undertakings – a first for the country. Introducing the technology itself was one challenge we faced, and another challenge was that each roads varying conditions required specific types of luminers.
