| August 2010 |
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Green Power By Maya Braine
Oil is usually cited as Syria's greatest natural resource. But with reserves depleting rapidly, the country's other environmental assets are becoming more valuable – namely the abundance of wind and sunny days. Unlike oil, these energies are a boundless future power source, although a lack of political will and regulatory issues continue to prevent them from being tapped. As energy needs increase, so does the need for securing alternative power sources. Demand for electricity in Syria has increased by 75 percent over the past decade and the government predicts it will triple in the next 20 years. The country has struggled to cover this growing demand and rolling blackouts are common during the summer months. "By 2030 Syria's national energy needs will be 65m tonnes of oil equivalent," Mohammad Khalil Sheki, general director of the government-run National Energy Research Centre (NERC), said. "Currently, we can only generate 25m tonnes of oil equivalent. As part of our plan to cover this deficit we aim to save 11m tonnes through increased efficiency and to generate 7m tonnes through renewable energy sources." Syria presently powers itself by burning fossil fuels. The main sources of power are oil, which accounts for 71.4 percent of electricity generation, and natural gas, which accounts for 22.4 percent, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Electricity and the German development agency GTZ. The only significant renewable energy source comes from three large hydroelectric power stations on the Euphrates River, which contributed 4.4 percent of the country's electricity generation last year according to government figures. The only grid-connected wind turbine is a small 150 KW demonstration model set up in the township of Quneitra in the Occupied Syrian Golan. There are no solar plants connected to the national grid, although a growing number of buildings are sprouting solar-powered water heating systems. The Ministry of Electricity's original Master Plan for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, published in 2002, states that solar energy could theoretically provide the country with energy equivalent to 500,000 tonnes of oil per year, while wind could kick in up to 85,000 MW annually – a staggering amount given that demand for electricity last year weighed in at around 7,200 MW. Biomass could potentially provide 5,237 MW. While these figures are the theoretical maximum amounts which could be generated – and as such unachievable in the real world – it is clear that clean, green energy projects could play a significant role in powering the country in the future. "There is great potential for renewable energy in Syria," Sheki said. "Alongside increasing efficiency, we can use renewable energy to meet a significant proportion of our energy needs. It helps address the country's energy deficit and environmental concerns." The government has high hopes for solar and wind energy and wants to raise the contribution of renewable energies to 7.5 percent of electricity generation by 2020. It is currently updating its renewable energy master plan in collaboration with GTZ. The new plan, which will cover the period from 2011 to 2030, is expected to be released next month. Sheki said the government aims to generate at least 2,500 MW from wind power and 3,000 MW from solar energy by 2030 and install 4 million solar water heaters. Lack of progress Such lofty goals are nothing new, however. In 2002 the country drew up its first master plan for renewable energies which called for some SYP 65.8bn (USD 1.4bn) in renewable energy investments. It also set the goal of producing around 5 percent of Syria's total energy production by renewable energy sources by the end of 2011, of which 50 percent is to come from wind power. It is already clear that these targets will not be met, as no wind farms or solar plants have been set up under the plan. A progress report of the master plan released in January noted it "has been implemented only to a very limited extent". What progress has been made has largely been restricted to theory and planning. The NERC was established in 2003 to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energies. Since then the centre has carried out the initial planning for a number of renewable energy projects, including identifying 15 potential sites for wind farms. Research centres have also been set up at several state universities, the Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology (HIAST), the Atomic Energy Commission and the Scientific Studies and Research Centre. However, all of these centres are short of equipment and have extremely limited research and development budgets. The most active is HIAST, which has carried out several projects including producing biodiesel from used frying oil and drawing up a sunlight map for the country. From 2006 to 2008 Syria also took part in the SOLATERM project, financed by the EU and coordinated by GTZ, which aimed to share knowledge and promote the development of solar energy across the Mediterranean region. Private companies have shown some tentative interest in the sector, without much result. The first renewable energy deal was struck with the German solar energy company Alternergie in 2008 to build a 1,000 MW solar plant in the industrial city of Hassia, near Homs. The plant is to be built by Alternergie and run by the state-owned partner SyriaNet. Two years after the deal was announced, work on the plant still has not started. The most recent development is a deal signed in May between the Danish firm Vestas and MARAFEQ, a joint venture between Syria's Cham Holding and Kuwait's Kharafi Group, to build a 100 MW wind farm at either Al-Sukhna or Al-Hijana south of Damascus. Vestas is the largest supplier of wind turbines in the world. The Ministry of Electricity is also reported to be conducting talks with Spanish officials for a 50 MW wind farm to be built in Syria at Spanish expense, while the NERC is running a tender for a wind farm to be built in Katina outside Homs. No legal framework Plenty of time and money have been invested in drawing up numerous studies and performing research projects. So why is it that, as the first master plan draws to a close, not a single major wind or solar project has got off the ground? For one thing, public-private partnerships (PPP) in the energy field have got off to a poor start. Indeed, the country still lacks a dedicated PPP legislative framework governing the rights and responsibilities of all parties. The first project, Alternergie's solar plant, has been delayed for two years after originally being scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2008. The reason, said the company's Syrian director Sulaiman Dabbagh, is that there is currently no legislation in place to allow the government to buy electricity from the private sector. Work to draft the necessary decree only began after Alternergie had signed off on the deal. Despite the setback, Dabbagh remains upbeat. "I have spoken to the Ministry of Electricity and they say the decree will be issued any day now," he said. "We can then start work straight away and hope to have the plant built and operational within two years." Syria's electricity sector has long been in the hands of the government, which has no precedent for free-market pricing. Despite increasing in recent years, electricity prices remain heavily subsidised by the government. Start-up costs for large-scale renewable energy projects are huge. Just how much the government is willing to pay for the electricity produced by the private sector will largely determine the level of investor interest in green-energy projects. "The lack of legislation for on-grid systems is a major obstacle to the development of the sector," Rawad Abdel Massih, general manager of Syrian renewable energy group EnviWise, said. Massih said Syria, a country with rural and remote communities, also needs to look at making off-grid developments more attractive to investors. Renewable energy sources could power things like water pumping and street lighting in these communities, instead of burning fossil fuels. "But because there is no financial support for private-sector investors, most of our offers are being dropped," he said. "The operating costs of renewable energy systems are virtually negligible, but the initial investment is high. The government can play a role here. In Turkey, for example, the government pays 50 percent of the cost of solar water pumping for farmers who install these systems. We should have laws that are similar." On top of this, all parties seem to agree that the sector is plagued by a lack of coordination and planning. The government has issued many policies targeting the area, but it is not always clear how they are to be implemented and which body is responsible for doing so. A report released by the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, a think tank set up in Cairo in 2008 dedicated to promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency of which Syria is a member, points out that the promotion of renewable energy in the country is characterised by a "fragmented, project-oriented approach and a lack of project coordination". In theory, the NERC is responsible for acting as the sector's coordinating body. But its position within the Ministry of Electricity limits its interactions with other relevant government bodies such as the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Moreover, it was originally conceived as a research centre and so is not ideally designed to perform its current regulatory and implementory role. There are also a plethora of official bodies involved in the energy sector. The power sector is managed by the Ministry of Electricity, while oil reserves are controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Resource and energy planning is controlled by the Higher Planning Council and the Supreme Energy Committee. The Atomic Energy Commission also plays a part. The country's hydropower plants are managed by the Ministry of Irrigation, while the ministries of environment, industry and agriculture also run their own small-scale renewable energy programmes. Moreover, managing the tendering process for renewable energy projects is unfamiliar terrain for the government. In 2007, the NERC issued a call for tenders for a wind farm in Homs, but only received one bid which failed to meet the technical specifications. The Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency suggests Syria is still coming to grips with the methodology of tendering and more international assistance is needed. New master plan The upcoming renewable energy master plan will outline a number of recommendations to address these issues. According to Magdy el-Menshawy, Syrian country director for GTZ, the plan will recommend the government move away from subsidising electricity in a similar manner to which it ended fuel subsidies, providing targeted subsidies to the most in need. The government is already looking to make electricity users, especially the business sector, pay more for their electricity. It is also drawing up tax and investment incentives for renewable energy projects. These are expected to include exempting the import of technologies used by the sector from customs duties. "There is certainly private sector interest in renewable energies," Menshawy said. "The new master plan is based on the idea of private companies setting up and running new renewable energy projects. But the process will initially take a little time." |
1 February 2012
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