Electricity supply hours have increased across several Syrian provinces after the Minister of Energy, Mohammed Yosr Bernieh, announced on Monday, August 18, that the electricity rationing program would be amended to provide two hours of supply for every four hours of outage in most provinces.
Enab Baladi correspondents reported an increase in electricity hours, though with differences between provinces. In Damascus, most areas receive two hours of electricity for every four hours of outage, averaging eight hours daily. In Rural Damascus (the countryside surrounding the capital), supply hours vary between five and eight hours per day.
In Aleppo, supply increased by two hours, reaching six hours daily, according to Enab Baladi’s correspondent. In Daraa (southern Syria), supply reached eight hours daily under the same two-on/four-off program.
Trial pumping phase
Khaled Abu Di, Director-General of the Public Establishment for Transmission and Distribution of Electricity, told Enab Baladi that after 15 days of Azerbaijani gas pumping, electricity supply hours increased to about seven hours per day, which is almost consistent with previous statements that promised between eight and ten hours.
He pointed out that although the agreed-upon quantity—estimated at 3.4 million cubic meters of gas daily—has not yet been reached, Syria currently receives only 2.4 million cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas via Turkey, meaning supply is still in the trial pumping phase.
According to Abu Di, the minimum required supply has been achieved, with electricity reaching about 7 to 7.5 hours daily across all provinces.
Completion of gas pumping and maintenance operations
“The establishment has completed the necessary repairs in the main stations, in addition to those that contribute to comprehensive electricity distribution,” Abu Di explained, noting that generation plants in the central region are now fully ready. However, the problem lies in not fully securing the required quantities of gas for the central and southern regions, which prevents further increases in generation.
Abu Di added that electricity supply hours are expected to rise gradually in the coming days as gas deliveries to the central region stabilize. He explained that recent hours witnessed stability in generation, contributing to a gradual increase in supply, but achieving sustainable stability requires additional maintenance by the gas company to ensure steady gas delivery to power plants.
He confirmed that technical teams at the gas company are preparing the Twainan station to raise pressure levels needed to send gas to central and southern regions, which will contribute to improving electricity production and increasing supply hours for citizens.
Minister’s statement
Energy Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh told the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Monday that this improvement comes as a result of Azerbaijani gas arriving via Turkey to power plants, which contributed to increasing electricity production and raising the operating capacity of several plants that had been idle or partially operational in recent months.
“The relative drop in temperatures in recent days has helped ease pressure on the grid, enabling the ministry to redistribute loads and improve distribution programs,” he said.
Azerbaijani gas
The flow of Azerbaijani natural gas to Syria via Turkey began on August 2. Turkish Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar said electricity exports to Syria are carried out through eight different points, with plans to increase export capacity by 25% initially, and more than double later.
Director of the Syrian Gas Company, Youssef al-Youssef, told Enab Baladi at the time that Syria will receive 3.4 million cubic meters of gas daily from Azerbaijan through Turkey, which will immediately enter the Syrian gas network. He noted that quantities would be introduced gradually during the first week, after which pumping would stabilize at the announced steady rate.
The Qatar Fund for Development had announced the launch of the second phase of support for Syria’s electricity sector, based on directives from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as part of cooperation between the Fund and Syria’s Ministry of Energy.
In a statement on July 31, the Qatari Embassy in Damascus said the step came “as a continuation of the State of Qatar’s efforts to support the brothers in the Syrian Arab Republic in the electricity sector.”
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