Electricity Ministry announces bids for wind farm projects open to private sector

Damascus, SANA- The General Establishment for Electricity Generation announced on Monday that it will accept international bids from investors to establish wind farms on BOO (build, own, operate) basis in Qatina and Ghabagheb sites with a capacity of 50 megawatts for each of the two farms.

Director General of the Establishment Mohamed al-Abdallah said that the sites of Qatina, which is near Homs city, and Ghabagheb to the south of Damascus, were chosen to establish the farms, pointing out that the Establishment is committed to purchasing the energy produced in those farms at prices to be agreed upon by both sides.

For her part, Director of the Electricity Sector Regulation Directorate Hiam Imam said that the Ministry took a number of steps to provide a suitable environment to encourage the private sector to invest in the electricity sector and expand the adoption of renewable energies sources.

She noted that these steps include a new system for granting of licenses in the fields of power generation and distribution, and a system for agreements of sale and purchase of electric power.

Imam said that private sector’s investment in the electricity sector will lighten the burdens shouldered by the state and citizens, because the private sector will build the farms and invest in them while, while the relevant state institutions will simply buy the electricity produced, adding that investors can sell energy to major clients directly and that this form of investment provide more electricity for industrialists and citizens without affecting fees.

She pointed out that there several projects in this field have been proposed by Arab, foreign, and expatriated investors at the investment conference which was held recently in Damascus.

Manar al-Freih / Hazem Sabbagh

Check Also

Armed forces continue to repel terrorist attack on Aleppo and Idleb countryside, leaving heavy losses

Damascus, SANA- Our armed forces continued to confront the large-scale terrorist attack carried out by …