Enab Baladi – Mohammad Deeb Bazt

The General Electricity Company in Aleppo governorate has signed an investment contract with the Syrian-Turkish Electricity Company (STE) of the “ROT” type (Rehabilitation, Operation, Transfer of Ownership).

The contract aims to improve the electricity supply network in the northern countryside of Aleppo by connecting several main stations that serve the cities and towns of Tal Rifaat, Nubl, Haritan, and the electrical institute on the Aleppo-Gaziantep highway.

Mahmoud al-Ahmad, the General Director of the Electricity Company, explained to Enab Baladi that the contract includes the rehabilitation of the electrical infrastructure, including networks and distribution centers at voltages of “66/20/0.4 k.v”.

STE will undertake the rehabilitation, operation, and management of these networks for a period of six years, after which ownership of the infrastructure will revert to the government.

Al-Ahmad pointed out that the contract covers areas in northern Aleppo’s countryside supplied by the Haritan, Tal Rifaat, Electricity Institute, and Nubl stations, within the administrative scope of the Haritan and Tal Rifaat regions, reaching the city of Kafr Hamra in northern Aleppo.

The private company commits to rehabilitate and supply electricity to the main cities within six months and to all areas within two years.

He confirmed that the ministry is striving to secure electricity supply by all possible means, prioritizing the city of Aleppo and its countryside, noting that governmental support is manifested in the rehabilitation of electrical stations, which is a governmental duty under the signed contract.

This project is part of ongoing efforts to develop the electrical infrastructure in rural areas, where residents of northern Aleppo suffer from repeated outages and poor quality of electricity, which directly impacts daily life and economic activities in the region.

Collapsed infrastructure

Al-Ahmad previously indicated in statements that more than half of Aleppo governorate is still suffering from recurring electricity outages, especially in the northern, western, and southern countryside, in addition to the eastern neighborhoods that have not witnessed any significant repairs since 2017.

He confirmed that the electrical infrastructure in about 70% of the eastern neighborhoods has collapsed, complicating maintenance and repair operations.

Al-Ahmad explained then that the current electricity generation capacity in Syria ranges between 1200 and 1300 megawatts, a figure significantly lower than the capacity that reached nine thousand megawatts before 2012.

He noted that the shortage of fuel and gas necessary to operate the stations, alongside the deteriorating state of generation stations and transmission networks, has led to severe power rationing in most areas.

He also pointed out that the number of employees in Aleppo Electricity Company has decreased from about six thousand to only 1500, which limits the company’s ability to cover the entire city and its countryside with electricity.

Faced protests

The STE company is a Syrian-Turkish joint venture, previously working on transferring electricity from Turkey to northwestern Syria, which was under opposition control before the fall of the previous Syrian regime.

The company began its official operations after signing a contract with the Local Council in Suran in 2019.

The activities of the company and its partnership contracts with local authorities faced protests from some residents who expressed concerns about reliance on external electricity sources and rising service costs.

Seven billion dollars

The Syrian Ministry of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with the global group “UCC Concession Investments” to enhance investment in the energy sector, with a total value reaching seven billion US dollars.

The Qatari company “UCC Concession” will take on the role of the main developer in the agreement, alongside the Turkish companies “Kalyon GES Enerji Yatirimlari” and “Cengiz Enerji”, and the American company “Power International USA”.

Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir stated during the agreement signing event at the People’s Palace in Damascus, attended by Enab Baladi, that the investment value under the memorandum reaches seven billion US dollars, which will contribute to generating five thousand megawatts, significantly increasing the hours of electricity supply and positively impacting all aspects of life.

Al-Bashir clarified that the agreement includes the development of four gas turbine power generation stations operating on a combined cycle (CCGT) in the areas of Deir Ezzor, Mhardeh, Zeyzoun in Hama countryside, and Trifawi in Homs countryside, with an estimated total generation capacity of around 4000 megawatts, using American and European technologies, in addition to a solar power station with a capacity of 1000 megawatts in Wadi al-Rabi in southern Syria.