Energy
in
Syria
is mostly based on
oil
and
gas
.
[1]
Some energy infrastructure was damaged by the
Syrian civil war
.
Overview
[
edit
]
Energy in Syria
[2]
|
|
Capita
|
Prim. energy
|
Production
|
Export
|
Electricity
|
CO
2
-emission
|
|
Million
|
TWh
|
TWh
|
TWh
|
TWh
|
Mt
|
2004
|
18.58
|
214
|
343
|
129
|
24.5
|
47.8
|
2007
|
19.89
|
228
|
283
|
52
|
29.5
|
53.7
|
2008
|
21.23
|
229
|
273
|
43
|
31.3
|
54.4
|
2009
|
21.09
|
262
|
274
|
33
|
31.3
|
59.8
|
2010
|
20.45
|
253
|
322
|
51
|
38.96
|
57.76
|
2012R
|
22.40
|
175
|
157
|
24.2
|
26.2
|
40.1
|
2013
|
22.85
|
150
|
88
|
68.3
|
21.8
|
33.5
|
Change 2004-10
|
10.1 %
|
17.8 %
|
-6.3 %
|
-60.5 %
|
59.2 %
|
20.9 %
|
Mtoe = 11.63 TWh. Prim. energy includes energy losses
2012R = CO2 calculation criteria changed, numbers updated
|
Electricity
[
edit
]
Pre-2011
[
edit
]
In the 2000s, Syria's
electric power system
struggled to meet the growing demands presented by an increasingly energy-hungry society. Demand grew by roughly 7.5% per year during this decade, fueled by the expansion of Syria's
industrial
and
service
sectors, the spread of energy-intensive
home appliances
, and state policies (i.e. high
subsidies
and low
tariffs
) that encouraged wasteful energy practices.
[3]
[4]
Syria's inefficient
transmission
infrastructure compounded these problems: In 2002, Electricity Minister Munib Saem al-Daher stated that 26% of the country's total electricity production was wasted in transmission, amounting to USD 57.7 billion in losses.
[5]
These factors together resulted in increasingly frequent
power cuts
, which in turn fueled public frustration.
[6]
Throughout this period, the Syrian government sought to close the supply gap by investing in new
electricity generation infrastructure
. Investments moved away from oil-powered infrastructure and toward gas-fueled
power plants
,
[7]
reflecting Syria's declining
domestic oil production
, improved access to natural gas, and the superior efficiency of gas-fed
combined cycle power plants
.
[3]
New investments relied significantly on international technical expertise to execute projects, notably by the German firm
Siemens
,
[8]
but also by firms hailing from
Iran
,
[9]
India
,
[10]
and elsewhere. They also relied on international financing, including from the
European Investment Bank
[11]
and the
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
.
[12]
Wartime disruption
[
edit
]
Syria's conflict wrought havoc on the country's electricity system, leading to increasingly frequent blackouts across the country, disruptions to all forms of economic activity,
[13]
and reports that electrical fires increased due to problems with the
electrical grid
.
[14]
Infrastructural damage
[
edit
]
Swathes of Syria's generation and transmission infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, due to a combination of bombardment by Syrian government forces, aerial attacks by the US-led
international military intervention against the Islamic State
, attacks by
insurgent
groups, and
looting
by armed factions. Between 2015 and 2017, violence and looting destroyed three major power plants, namely the
Aleppo
Thermal Station, Zayzoon in
Idlib
, and al-Taim in
Deir Ezzor
. Pre-war, these three plants had accounted for almost one-fifth of Syria's total generation capacity. In 2021, Syria's Ministry of Electricity estimated total losses to the electricity sector at USD 2.4 billion.
[3]
Resource scarcity
[
edit
]
In addition to infrastructural damage, war also left Syria with acute shortages of the fuel and water needed to power Syria's
thermal
and
hydroelectric
infrastructure. On one side, the Syrian government's loss of major oil and gas fields first to the
Islamic State
and then to the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
contributed to extreme fuel scarcity and thus a reliance on imports, notably from Iran.
[15]
On the other, rising temperatures, diminished rainfall, and Turkish restrictions on the flow of the
Euphrates River
brought the latter's water levels to a crisis point, thus threatening the capacity of the three dams located along the Euphrates in Syria: namely the
Tabqa Dam
,
Baath Dam
, and
Tishrin Dam
.
[16]
[17]
[18]
Expertise scarcity
[
edit
]
Pre-2011, Syria relied heavily on foreign expertise to spearhead the most complex forms of investment in Syria's electrical sector, including repairing and installing generation infrastructure. After a decade of war, the combination of
international sanctions
and foreign exchange shortages had created major obstacles to bringing in foreign expertise.
[3]
To make matters worse, Syria's own pool of homegrown technical competence was reduced by a relentless
brain drain
[19]
and devastating setbacks to the country's
education sector
.
[20]
Sanctions
[
edit
]
US and EU sanctions further undermined Syria's electricity sector, including by barring foreign (i.e. European and Arab) entities from extending loans or implementing infrastructure projects and by straining Syria's ability to import fuel and spare parts.
[3]
| This section needs to be
updated
.
Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
(
January 2024
)
|
According to
BBC
oil accounts for ca. 25% of Syria's income, estimated as $3.2bn for 2010. EU members account for ca. 95% of oil exports. Production was 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m
3
/d) in 2009 and exports about 150,000 barrels per day (24,000 m
3
/d), mainly
Germany
,
Italy
and
France
. According to
BBC
oil reserves were 2.5bn barrels in 2010.
[21]
Business
[
edit
]
The
Syrian Petroleum Company
(SPC) is a state-owned oil company established in 1974.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Syria - Countries & Regions"
.
IEA
. Retrieved
2022-02-16
.
- ^
IEA Key World Energy Statistics Statistics
2015
Archived
2016-03-04 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2014 (2012R as in November 2015
Archived
2015-04-05 at the
Wayback Machine
+ 2012 as in March 2014 is comparable to previous years statistical calculation criteria,
2013
Archived
2014-09-02 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2012
Archived
2013-03-09 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2011
Archived
2011-10-27 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2010
Archived
2010-10-11 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2009
Archived
2013-10-07 at the
Wayback Machine
,
2006
Archived
2009-10-12 at the
Wayback Machine
IEA
October, crude oil p.11, coal p. 13 gas p. 15
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Hatahet, Sinan; Shaar, Karam (2021-07-31).
"Syria's Electricity Sector After a Decade of War: A Comprehensive Assessment"
.
European University Institute
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Demand for Electricity Rose 5.9 Percent in 2009"
.
Syria Report
. 8 March 2010
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"26 percent in power transmission network loss"
.
Syria Report
. 1 May 2003
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Syria Continues to Face Severe Power Cuts"
.
Syria Report
. 24 August 2009
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Syria to rely increasingly on gas power stations"
.
Syria Report
. 9 March 2002
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Siemens, Koch clinch power plant expansion contract"
.
Syria Report
. 1 December 2003
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Iran sets up electrical sub-stations in Syria"
.
Syria Report
. 17 December 2001
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"ABB India gets US$16.65 million Syria order"
.
Syria Report
. 24 December 2001
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"EIB to loan EUR 200 million for new Deir-ez-Zor Power Plant"
.
Syria Report
. 1 December 2005
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Infrastructure brief : AFESD loans USD 100 million to Deir-ez-Zor power plant"
.
Syria Report
. 17 February 2006
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Power cuts stall industrial revival in Syria's Aleppo"
.
France 24
. 2021-09-08
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"????? ????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???????"
.
??? ????
(in Arabic). 2019-03-01
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
Shaar, Karam.
"The Syrian Oil Crisis: Causes, Possible Responses, and Implications"
.
Middle East Institute
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
Trew, Bel (2021-11-02).
"Half of Syria has been displaced by war. Now record drought threatens millions more"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
Sala, Daniela; Laffert, Bartholomaus von; Mohammad, Shaveen (2021-11-10).
"
'Killing us slowly': dams and drought choke Syria's water supply ? in pictures"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Turkish dams threaten northeast Syria with ecological and economic blight"
.
Syria Direct
. 2020-08-11
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Syria's brain drain ? another twist to the country's crisis"
.
The New Humanitarian
. 2013-03-26
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
"Syrian higher education system facing 'complete breakdown' after eight years of war ? study"
.
University of Cambridge
. 2019-06-18
. Retrieved
2021-11-23
.
- ^
EU steps up Syria sanctions with ban on oil imports
2 September 2011
BBC
Energy policy on the Middle East
|
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| |