BHEL, the Indian engineering firm, has said that its sole project in Syria had come to a halt because of the deteriorating security conditions.

The Syrian government has managed to procure spare parts and equipment from “friendly” countries to enhance its power sector, the Minister of Electricity has said.

The Syrian government has extended the deadline to bid for two new power plants as fears over the conflict and international sanctions keep foreign bidders away.

The Minister of Electricity has said that the power outages of the last two years had inflicted a loss of some SYP 218 on the Syrian economy.

The state entity in charge of the country’s electricity distribution network said that it accumulated losses of at least SYP 15 billion since the beginning of the uprising in the country two years ago.

Syria has extended for the second time the closing date for a tender to build a 500 MW power plant in Al-Zara, near Homs.

The Syrian Minister of Electricity has said that 3,000 MW of power generation capacity is unused because of the damages inflicted on the country’s power grid.

The reported capture of the Tishreen hydroelectric dam by Syrian rebels is likely to strain further supplies of electricity across the country.

The Syrian Government has issued a tender for the construction of a 350 MW power plant in the coastal area.

The Turkish minister of energy said last week that the Syrian government is seeking again to purchase electricity from his country.

Syria has suspended imports of electricity from Turkey and Arab countries and switched instead to Iran, according to press reports.

The government has appointed a new director general for the two main power utilities in the country, PEEG and PEDEEE.

Syria’s state-owned power utility has extended the closing date of two tenders for the construction of a total of 1,000MW in new power generation capacity.

Syria is planning to issue tenders for some 1,500 MW of new generating capacity in the coming months, the Minister of Electricity said.

The Ministry of Electricity is raising the daily number of hours of power cuts across Syria as rising temperatures lead to an increase in demand for electricity.