Mott MacDonald has been appointed to act as Independent Engineer during the construction phase of a new gas turbine power plant in Jordan.

The project, to be built near Amman, will be the first true independent power project in Jordan.

The appointment has been made by a consortium of lenders comprising Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Ltd (SMBC), Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

The project will ensure capacity is available to meet Jordan's future electricity demand.

The scope of the project includes the design, development, construction, commissioning and operation of a 370MW gas turbine based power plant which will use gas supplied from Egypt. Mott MacDonald's project team will provide Independent Engineer services during the construction phase which recently began and is due for completion in 2009, reporting on key indicators such as project schedule, environmental performance, health and safety performance as well as adoption of good engineering practices.

Duncan Morrison, Mott MacDonald's project manager, said: "We are delighted to be appointed on this phase of the project. We also acted as Independent Engineer during the pre-Financial Close phase as well as Technical Advisor to the Project Sponsors (a joint venture between AES Oasis and Mitsui & Co) during the bidding phase and we're really looking forward to seeing the power plant reach successful operation. Mott MacDonald has a wealth of experience in providing technical advisory services on private finance projects and was nominated as Best Technical Advisor in 2007 and it's important commissions like this one for Jordan that help us to demonstrate our expertise." -TradeArabia News Service