SYRIA - The Power Sector.
There has been rapid growth in electric power generation capacity in Syria in recent years. Installed capacity now is over 8,200 MW, compared to a little over 4,000 MW in early 1998. This includes 900 MW in hydro-power plants which are only operating at about 300 MW. Annual demand for electricity has been growing at the average rate of 10% in recent years.
In 2007, Syria had a summer of power failures and electricity shortages, and claims by PM 'Utari that US and EU economic pressures were to blame were being greeted with scepticism by a weary public. 'Utari's claims marked a shift in position in a regime which had long held that US pressure had a negligible impact.
Many Syrians in 2007 said their electricity woes were more a function of government incompetence than of international pressure. In an Aug. 5 article on Syria-News.com, a private online news agency, Nidal Ma'louf, director of the Syrian Economic Centre, wrote: "According to my knowledge, the official line has been that America's sanctions and its policy of isolating Syria are both failing. Now the government is trying to find an excuse for its failure to provide cities with the most basic needs".
Issam al-Za'im, a former minister of industry and outspoken political commentator, said the PM's remarks were an attempt to avoid blame for years of procrastination in upgrading a national power grid still operating on technology decades old. Za'im said: "The main problem for Syria is a total lack of planning for the future. Sanctions may be having an effect, but bad governance is the main factor, and we're seeing none of our officials being held accountable for their mistakes".
The power failures occurred in one of the warmest summers in recent memory. In Damascus, which had daily blackouts lasting as long as five hours, the roar of gas generators drowned out the city's notoriously loud traffic. In some suburbs, the lights were on for only six hours a day.
Syria, a regional supplier of electricity, had to suspend exports to Lebanon and northern Iraq several times last summer to conserve energy. Za'im said: "These power interruptions are costing the country dearly. This is affecting our ability to pump water around the country, which not only affects human consumption, but industry, agriculture, just about everything".
US sanctions (see OMT of this week) are affecting power generation. Construction contracts for two large power plants, needed to keep pace with rising energy demand, went up for bid on the international market five times in 2005-07 with no takers. Of the companies capable of building them, PM 'Utari accused General Electric of the US of declining to bid on the job and persuading Mitsubishi of Japan not do bid, either.
