Syria’s Ministry of Energy signed a 700 megawatt wind power project agreement on Wednesday, February 11, between the General Organization for Electricity Transmission and Distribution and Merv Energy National.
Signed at the ministry’s headquarters, the agreement aims to install 140 locally manufactured wind turbines at several sites across Syria.
The ministry said it seeks to connect the project to the national electricity grid, a step that “contributes to strengthening generation capacity and supports the ministry’s direction toward expanding the use of renewable energy sources.”
The Ministry of Energy’s media office told Enab Baladi the turbines will be distributed across more than one area in Syria and will not be limited to a single governorate.
It added that locations will be determined after studies identify the most suitable sites, given that the project’s goal is to connect the turbines to the public power grid.
Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir described the agreement as a strategic project that will support Syria’s electricity network and reinforce the shift toward renewable energy.
The agreement was signed by al-Bashir and Merv Energy’s CEO Valerina Elias, in the presence of Deputy Energy Minister for Electricity Affairs Omar Shaqrouq and Merv Energy’s chairman Walid Elias.
There is little publicly available information about the company, and this is the first time it has been mentioned in an energy sector agreement, according to Enab Baladi’s reporting.
High Costs
Producing energy in Syria requires billions of dollars, not Syrian pounds, according to economic expert Khaled Turkawi.
In a previous report to Enab Baladi, Turkawi spoke about alternative energy projects in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Turkey, noting that these countries invest millions of dollars in the sector.
Renewable energy, whether wind or solar, is costly. Its infrastructure is not cheap, but the energy it produces becomes less expensive in the long term.
While wind itself is free, installing a large turbine is very expensive and can cost up to $10 million per unit, Turkawi said.
According to Turkawi, areas in Syria suited for private sector investment in renewables include Palmyra (Tadmor, in Homs governorate, central Syria) and the desert stretching toward the city’s eastern countryside, as well as Raqqa (northern Syria), for solar power.
A second area is the Latakia mountains (northwestern Syria) and open areas toward western rural Homs (central Syria), which face the coastal region, for wind power. However, he said wind investment there would require extensive infrastructure, making it costly.
A third area is along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (northeastern and eastern Syria) for hydropower. As for other rivers such as the Orontes, he said their flow is limited and cannot be effectively utilized, even if conditions allow, because their power generation would be weak.
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