Power Shortfall to Continue
11-Aug-2009
Tuesday, 11 August, 2009
Power Shortfall to Continue
11-Aug-2009
Tuesday, 11 August, 2009
Syria is suffering from an electricity shortage and the country’s power stations could stop functioning at any moment, said an August 8 article in the pro-government website Syria Steps.
Ahmad Qusay Qayali, the electricity minister, told the website that United States sanctions against Damascus have lowered Syria’s capacity to produce electricity. He hoped the new sanctions waivers, which are expected to facilitate the export of some technological items to Syria, would also pave the way for multinationals from Japan or even the US to be allowed to build power plants in Syria.
Syria has a daily shortfall of up to 1,000 megawatts, MW, in its electricity supply. The deficit is forecast to remain unchanged next year but is expected to rise to 1,400 MW in 2011 and 1,800 MW in 2012, according to official data.
Figures provided by the electricity ministry and cited by the website show that the country’s power generating capacity is officially 7,188 MW, which should be enough to satisfy peak demand from the country's 22 million people estimated to be around 6,500 MW.
The website said, however, that output is sometimes as much as 20 per cent lower than the official capacity because some production units were old and because of the hot weather which lowers productivity.
The website said that the only solution was to build new power generating capacity, urging the government to accept offers by European and Asian companies wishing to invest in the electricity sector in Syria.
An August 10 article in the pro-government newspaper Al-Watan also said power cuts were hitting industry and commerce hard.
The owner of one plastics factory, Saleh al-Rifai, told the newspaper that power cuts cost him daily up to 33 US dollars for each machine he operated. The owner of a restaurant, Mazen Dawra, said power cuts meant he lost trade around lunch and dinner times.
