Syria signs $7 billion energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US consortium
Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, US and Turkish companies as it seeks to rehabilitate its war-ravaged electricity sector.
The agreement was signed at the Syrian presidential palace in the presence of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack.
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.
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.
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 today, down from 9.5 GW before 2011.
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