Impact of COVID-19 Response Measures on Electricity Sector in Jordan

Salaheddin Malkawi, Suhil Kiwan and Sajedah Alzghoul
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Salaheddin Malkawi: Department of Nuclear Engineering, Jordan University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan
Suhil Kiwan: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan
Sajedah Alzghoul: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: With the wide spread of new variants of coronavirus that cause the infectious disease COVID-19, governments around the world typically respond by imposing restrictions on people’s activities that range from partial to full lockdowns. This has severe implications on all economic activities, which is manifested by the changes in energy demand. In this study, the impact of COVID-19 on the electricity sector in Jordan is analysed through quantifying the strictness of the government response measures to contain the spread of the pandemic, as calculated by the stringency index, with the electricity demand by the different sectors. Results showed that the minimum peak load in 2020 decreased by 13% as compared to that of 2019. The most affected sectors were the domestic sector, whose share in consumption increased by 8%, and the commercial and hotel sector, whose share decreased by 19%. The concept of an energy-weighted stringency index was introduced to account for the impact of government response measures on the different sectors. The analysis was applied for all Jordan as well as for the three electricity distribution regions. Results also showed that despite measures taken to contain spread of the pandemic, the share of electricity generation by renewables increased from 15% in 2019 to 24% in 2020.

Keywords: COVID-19; electricity generation; electricity demand; peak load; stringency index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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