Power

The architect of Syria’s economic liberalisation plan in the early 2000s was recently appointed to the Regional Bureau for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme.

The Syrian government is preparing to put three power turbines into operation, although acute shortages of natural gas and fuel will continue to limit the potential for increased electricity production.

An amendment to Syria’s main electricity law seeks to encourage private investment by introducing more flexibility in the contracting process and granting provincial authorities more powers.

A group of 18 companies and businessmen have recently established a renewable energy company in Homs. The company’s partners, including controversial figures such as Samer Foz, have tried to establish the company since as early as October 2021, but faced some legal troubles.

A high-ranking governmental delegation recently inaugurated several electricity projects in the Aleppo governorate.

The government has revoked the articles of association for a renewable energy company owned by government entities and the private sector, revealing the limits of state efforts to prioritise the sector. 

President Bashar Al-Assad and his family made their first visit to the Aleppo governorate since the beginning of the 2011 conflict. They met with several economic, social, and religious figures, participated in social engagements, and visited various infrastructural projects, including the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant, which Iran's MAPNA Group recently rehabilitated.

The government has awarded a local company the first power sector contract under the Public Private Partnership Law, and Russian and Emirati companies contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros to rehabilitate and build renewable energy power plants in the country.

An Emirati-Chinese company will sponsor a renewable energy conference in Damascus next week, which may serve to highlight the United Arab Emirate’s interest in the Syrian market.

A recent 55-page report provides a comprehensive overview of the captagon drug trade in Syria, its evolution since the early 2000s, methods of production, implicated state and non-state actors, and market trends.

A Russian energy company and Russian and Syrian-Russian investors have contracted with the government to build a gas turbine power plant in the Sheikh Najjar Industrial City in Aleppo.

Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian officials have moved one step further towards implementing an electricity supply deal after signing an agreement in Beirut last week. Following the meeting, new details regarding the World Bank's potential role in financing the deal and the pricing of Jordan's exported energy were disclosed.

Electricity companies in the opposition-held parts of the Idlib and Aleppo governorates have recently increased their fees for each kilowatt-hour by 40 to 50 percent in Idlib and 160 to 280 percent in Aleppo, further escalating protests that have proliferated as a result of the region's worsening economic crisis and the recent collapse of the Turkish lira.

The Ministry of Electricity has recently announced that electricity will be heavily rationed ahead of the winter season given that local production remains a fraction of demand. Meanwhile, the government plans to activate a new service this month that would allow businesses to avoid rationing electricity altogether in return for paying extremely high fees.

The Ministry of Electricity has recently annulled dozens of small- and medium-sized renewable energy licences, some of which belong to prominent businessmen, while the country’s dismal business environment remains a major hurdle to investment.

Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan have announced that they have reached a deal over the sale of Jordanian electricity to Lebanon via Syria. The nature and extent of Syria’s benefits from the deal is not yet clear.

President Bashar Al-Assad approved a law establishing a fund to promote the use of renewable energy sources with the aim of reducing the dependency on conventional energy sources.

The Syrian government has reported Emirati and Chinese interest in its project to incentivise investments in wind and solar energy as it seeks to increase the share of renewable energy sources in its energy mix in the long term, although funding remains a challenge. 

On September 4, the Lebanese Caretaker Government sent a delegation of high-ranking ministers to Syria, marking the first official visit since the start of Syria’s decade-long conflict.

Shortages of natural gas and dysfunctional power plants have forced the government to tighten rationing of electricity in response to an intensifying power crisis.