Under the title "Israeli-Jordanian-Emirati Project to Build a Solar Farm and Water Desalination Plant," Bloomberg Asharq reported that Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates are set to sign an agreement on Monday to build a large solar energy farm in the Jordanian desert, as revealed by five Israeli officials to Axios. The solar farm, funded by the UAE, aims to primarily supply energy to Israel, which will in return build a water desalination plant on the Mediterranean coast to provide water to Jordan.
The Axios report described the project as "the largest regional cooperation ever between Israel and its neighbors" and noted that it was driven by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, who will attend the signing ceremony on Monday in Dubai, alongside Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, Jordanian Water Minister Raed Abu Saud, and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The agreement follows secret talks between the three governments, which accelerated in September and matured into a draft agreement by the end of October. Initially, the agreement was scheduled to be signed two weeks ago during the climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow, according to Axios.
The underlying vision for the project originally comes from EcoPeace Middle East, a regional environmental NGO. It is based on the premise that Israel needs renewable energy but lacks land for large solar farms, which Jordan possesses. Conversely, Jordan requires water but can only build desalination plants in the southern, remote part of the country, while the Israeli coast is closer to Jordan's large population centers.
The solar farm will be built by Masdar, a renewable energy company owned by the Emirati government. It is expected to become operational by 2026 and produce 2% of Israel's energy by 2030, with Israel paying $180 million annually to be divided between the Jordanian government and the Emirati company, according to Axios.
