The Al-Husseini Group, a real estate, industrial and trading organization based in Amman, Jordan, and Amelio Solar, a developer of solar photovoltaic (PV) module technologies announced a joint venture to bring large-scale solar PV energy production capacity to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in cooperation with the government and the national utility.

The joint venture has launched a multi-year project to construct a 1-gigawatt (GW) PV power generation plant in Jordan, including an integrated 200-MW thin-film PV module factory that will serve as a dedicated source of Amelio Solar thin-film photovoltaic modules to supply the power plant.

The joint venture first plans to deploy and operate a factory in Jordan to produce thin-film amorphous silicon, CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-diselenide) and related hybrid PV modules using a manufacturing platform created and installed by Amelio Solar.

Over a three-year installation period, the factory will reach an annual PV module manufacturing capacity of 200 MW, beginning with a 22 MW manufacturing line to be completed in 2009. The PV modules produced by this factory will be used primarily in the construction of a PV power generation plant in Jordan designed by Amelio Solar which will reach a total power generation capacity of 1 GW by 2017.

“We are pleased to be introducing to our country this strategic technology and production platform, and we are grateful for the leadership and support of his Majesty King Abdullah and the cooperation of the Ministry of Energy in this important effort,” said Omar Al-Husseini, CEO of Al-Husseini Group. “Our joint venture is bringing this capability to Jordan on a scale that will provide a truly cost-competitive, renewable source of electricity for today and the future, as well as a foundation for industrial growth in the new energy economy.”