Umm Khalil, a Syrian who settled in 2012 in the Zaatari refugee camp, now has electricity 14 hours a day in her caravan since power began to be generated through solar panels Nov. 13. In the past, the 80,000 refugees in the Zaatari camp, 53 miles northeast of Amman in Mafraq, suffered regularly from power outages, receiving power through Jordan's electrical system for only six hours a day, which made life extremely difficult in the desert camp.

Umm Khalil told Al-Monitor, “We were suffering. We were not able to save the food in the refrigerators or run fans for cooling the air at noon, with the temperature reaching 40 degrees [104 degrees Fahrenheit] in the camp. Life is very difficult with the lack of electricity supply.”

Al-Monitor attended a press tour in Zaatari on Nov. 13. During that tour, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared that electricity is now being generated inside the camp through the largest solar power plant ever to exist in a refugee camp.

The operation is funded by the German government through the German Development Bank. The solar power plant, which cost 15 million euros (roughly $18 million) and is connected to the national grid, will provide renewable and clean energy to residents in the camp as well as those in urban areas around the camp.