Damascus-SANA
157 photovoltaic generation licenses with a total capacity of more than 100 megawatts for small and medium projects.
The licenses granted to these projects began to increase significantly in 2018, as the capacity ceiling for each project is 10 megawatts, according to the Directorate’s data. The output of the mentioned projects is subject to Article 28 of the Electricity Law, which sets encouraging prices for the purchase of electricity from renewable sources.
Among the mentioned projects, there are 69 “solar” projects and one “wind” project, according to Hiam’s statement to the director of the Electricity Sector Regulatory Directorate and Private Investment, indicating that the remaining photovoltaic projects with the greatest potential were concentrated in Tartous governorate, followed by the governorates of Hama and As-Suwayda, and in the countryside of Homs near Hisya .
Regarding the wind energy project, Imam explained that it was implemented by the Syrian-European complex with a capacity of 2.5 megawatts and was connected to the network at the end of 2019. The first turbine in it is now producing well, while work is currently underway to install a second turbine within the project and is expected to be completed within the next two months.
The Directorate for Regulating the Electricity Sector and Private Investment was established within the Ministry in 2012 to undertake all technical tasks related to investment and management of the sector, and based on administrative reform procedures, the directorate was divided into three directorates: “The Directorate of Sector Regulation, the Directorate of Investment, and the Directorate of Quality and Measurement,” whereby the investment activity was separated from the rest activities and give it priority according to an imam.
Imam explained that there will be direct cooperation between the Investment Directorate through the “Investment Window” of the ministry and the Syrian Investment Authority through the “Investors Service Center” to facilitate procedures for obtaining licenses for renewable energy projects, which according to the investment law are obtained within a period not exceeding thirty days from the date of submitting papers. .
As for the facilities granted to investors, Imam indicated that direct coordination is taking place with the Syrian Investment Authority to develop a procedural guide that facilitates them to know all the procedures related to investment, pointing out that once the investor’s project is included in the Investor Services Center, he is granted an investment license and accordingly he is exempted from all customs duties and other taxes, including his exemption In addition, the new investment law allowed the allocation of land to investors according to specific conditions.
Simplified conditions have also been established that allow the legal person to invest in these projects according to an imam, where he is required only a technical file on the specifications of the equipment and a simulation report for the photovoltaic or wind system that he wishes to complete showing the amount of monthly and annual production over the life of the project, indicating that all the projects that have been implemented and linked On the network, its bills are paid regularly from the electricity distribution companies, noting the prices of the “electricity feeding tariffs for these projects” in Syria, which are lower than those in neighboring countries, and this is a great incentive for companies and investors.
Imam pointed out that the period of implementation of projects with a capacity of 5 megawatts is set for the investor for 6 months, and for projects with a capacity of 10 megawatts for a full year, pointing out that there is a large renewable energy project with a capacity of 100 megawatts currently in Adra Industrial City provided by a group of national companies in addition to a project with a capacity of 100 megawatts subtracted from Industrialists in the industrial city of Hasya, and there is direct negotiation on a project with a capacity of 300 megawatts with an external company “on a hand-to-hand basis with secured financing” that is, receiving the project from the executing company in a ready-made manner, as well as a project with a capacity of 300 megawatts on the basis of “direct purchase agreements”.
Imam indicated that there is a memorandum of understanding with the National Center for Energy Research and the Industrial Bank through which loans are granted to investors and industrialists wishing to establish renewable energy projects, provided that the center supervises the project implementation stages, and the loan is paid in installments according to the percentage of implementation.
Sakina Muhammed