MAIA-TAQA aims to develop and promote new energy efficiency services (we had already talked about it here) through the implementation of a series of pilot projects in three countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea-Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan-implemented through the cooperation of eight international partners. These projects, or “demonstrators,” are mainly concerned with wastewater treatment and the use of microgrids and solar thermal and photovoltaic systems and are intended to show the practical applications and effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), solar-based cooling systems (ST cooling systems) represent a market with great potential for the Mediterranean countries, where demand for air conditioning systems is steadily growing and will continue to do so due to the climate crisis. Two of the pilot projects were implemented in Jordan, taking full advantage of the area’s favorable conditions: its geographical location, characterized by vast desert areas and a predominantly hot and dry climate, in fact makes Jordan an ideal place for the use of solar energy.
After a series of roundtables, careful analysis and site surveys, the Aqaba Chamber of Commerce headquarters was selected: the building was equipped with a solar-powered cooling system consisting of a series of solar collectors installed on the roof of the building: the energy stored by the panels is transferred to a heat transfer fluid that conducts it to two storage units, one of which is connected to the cooling system. This system is capable of meeting half of the total energy needs of the offices, and the technologies used were integrated with pre-existing technologies based on water cooling rather than solar-thermal cooling.
In contrast, the headquarters of JoCC, or the Jordan Chamber of Commerce in Amman, was equipped with another type of cooling system: the BIPV – Building-Integrated Photovoltaics – installed on the southeast and southwest facades to convert light and heat into electricity. This system is capable of covering 20 percent of the building’s total energy needs.
The implementation of both technologies is an important step toward a sustainable energy transition.
