Description for King Talal Hydropower (Jordan)

The project is aimed at the careful use of water resource, both for irrigation and energy production, without wasting even one drop. In fact, in arid and semi-arid climate countries, such as Jordan, the need for water is continuously increasing due to the raising demand, and simultaneously due to decreasing resources.

The assignment comprises the assessment of conditions of the existing plant (including a dam for multi-purpose use, a waterway, a powerhouse at the dam toe), located in Jordan, and the feasibility study of the refurbishment and upgrading of the existing hydropower plant (from 6 to 12 MW).
Moreover, this project foresees the addition of a new powerhouse, along with the implementation of a new plant (18 MW), located 12 km downstream of the existing one. The assignment also foresees a reconnaissance study for three new hydropower plants at the existing Mujib, Tannur and Wadi Arab dams.

The main purpose of the King Talal Dam is the irrigation in the Jordan Valley. It uses the Zarqa River’s natural inflows plus wastewater discharged by nr 4 WWTPs (Wastewater Treatment Plants) located in the Amman – Zarqa basin. In order to harness the available head at the dam, a hydropower plant was installed at the dam toe. The existing power house is equipped with two 3 MW Francis units at a rated head of 107 meters.
From the tailwater at king Talal Dam the Zarqa River drops about 180 m to the Tlal Al Dahab Diversion Weir. In order to exploit the above hydropower potential of the Zarqa river, as well as improve water quality, minimize losses and increase availability for irrigation, a two hydropower cascade scheme was conceived. The cascade’s layout, which takes into account local constraints (environmental and archaeological) includes two plants schemes with a total installed capacity of about 22 MW.