RENEWABLE ENERGY – SYRIA INVESTING IN SOLAR AND WIND POWER
Global Arab Network
01005035732/Energy/renewable-energy-syria-investin g-in-solar-and-wind-power.html
May 3 2010
Syria is working on investing and developing solar and wind energy
to meet the increasing demand on energy in light of the population
growth and the economic, industrial and agricultural expansion,
reports Syrian State Agency.
Syrian Ministry of Higher Education has launched many programs on
renewable energy to be studied at the faculties of electrical,
mechanic and technical engineering and in the institutes and
postgraduate programs.
Research and training energy centers have been established in Damascus,
Aleppo, Tishreen and al-Baath universities.
Syrian institutes and research centers have conducted many studies
on new types of renewable energies and the required infrastructure
to invest them.
In a statement to SANA, Head of the Higher Institute for Applied
Sciences and Technology Wael Khansa said "we conducted research on
producing biodiesel from consumed frying oil and the results were
good. Now we are studying the possibility of carrying out this
project."
The Institute worked on drawing a sunlight map in cooperation with
Armenia. The project aims at linking the sunlight map in Syria and
Armenia to invest solar power and use it in heating and cooling water,
Khansa said.
He added that an international conference on renewable energy would
be held regularly every two years to exchange scientific researches
and experiences.
Researchers who participated in the International Conference on New
and Renewable Energy said that Syria is rich in natural resources
that could be invested to generate new types of energy.
Wind energy MARAFEQ, member of CHAM Holding Group, and VESTAS,
headquartered in Denmark and the largest Wind Energy Company in the
world, signed here Sunday a strategic partnership to develop wind
energy in Syria.
The partnership includes the submittal of a joint pre-qualification to
the Public Establishment for Electricity Generation and Transmission
for the development of the first wind energy project in Syria.
The project includes the construction and operation of a wind farm
with generation capacity of 50-100 MW at two sites; Al Sukhna and Al
Hijana, south of Damascus.
The wind farm will be built and operated in partnership between public
and private sectors, on Build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build- operate-
own (BOO) basis, with a time span expected not to exceed 2 years.
MARAFEQ is to develop the said project, VESTAS is to provide the
project with necessary technology, and the Kuwait AL KHARAFI Company
is to be responsible for the project Engineering, Procurement and
Construction.
Hani Azzouz, Chairman of MARAFEQ pointed out that the said project
" will be pursuit parallel to the currently developed projects by
MARAFEQ including Nasserieh and 2 wastewater treatment plants in
Aleppo and Hasakah."
Mahmoud Al Khoshman, MARAFEZ Chief Executive Officer, said: " Syria
has a considerable wind energy potential in a variety of locations
promising to offer clean energy needed to meet the increasing demand
for electricity in Syria in an environmentally friendly manner,"
in line with the Syrian Government strategic vision as to achieve
sustainable development in Syria.
For his part, Fariz Al-Ekhwan, chairman of the Syrian-Danish Business
Council, described the project as a " great start for the recently
established Syrian-Danish Business Council which strives to encourage
business cooperation between Syria and Denmark."
CHAM Holding Group is committed to investing in development projects
in Syria in all of its areas of business including infrastructure
development, property investment and development, tourism and
hospitality, finance and banking, transportation, healthcare, education
and manufacturing.
VESTAS is the world leader in wind technology, with a history of
technological innovation and over 30 years of experience in developing,
manufacturing, installing and maintaining wind turbines.
VESTAS has 38,000 MW of installed capacity worldwide representing 20 %
of the global wind market.(SANA)