Syria signs $7 billion power deal with Qatar's UCC Holding-led consortium
Syria has signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium of international companies led by Qatar's UCC Holding to develop major power generation projects with a foreign investment valued at about $7 billion, UCC said in a statement on Thursday.
The agreement involves building four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus a 1,000-MW solar power plant in southern Syria.
"This agreement marks a crucial step in Syria's infrastructure recovery plan," said Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir, who signed the deal in Damascus in the presence of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and U.S. envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack.
Construction is expected to begin after final agreements and financial close, and is targeted to finish within three years for the gas plants and less than two years for the solar plant.
Once completed, the projects are expected to provide over 50% of Syria's electricity needs.
After 14 years of war, Syria's electricity sector has been suffering from severe damage to its grid and power stations, aging infrastructure, and persistent fuel shortages, generating only 1.6 gigawatts of electricity, down from 9.5 GW before 2011.
Reconstructing the power sector is expected to cost around $11 billion and the new administration is betting on the private sector shouldering the burden, underlining a shift from the state-led economic policies of the Assad era.
The projects will be financed through regional and international banks, in addition to capital injection from the partners, UCC Holding CEO Ramez Al Khayyat said.
They are expected to create 50,000 direct and 250,000 indirect jobs during execution, the UCC Holding CEO said.
Doha, one of the region's sternest opponents of Bashar al-Assad and backers of the rebels-turned rulers who replaced him, is now positioning itself to play a major role in Syria's reconstruction, along with Turkey.
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