Vestas signs wind power order for 100 MW in Syria

The companies will build a wind farm with generation capacity of 50 to 100 megawatts at the Al-Sukhna and Al-Hijana sites south of Damascus, it said.

Marafeq will act as developer, Vestas will provide the wind turbines, and Kharafi Group will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction.

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.

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.

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.

MARAFEQ, member of CHAM Holding Group, and VESTAS, headquartered in Denmark and the largest Wind Energy Company in the world, signed 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 farm in Syria.

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."

Vestas is the world leader in wind power, with a history of technological innovation and over 30 years of experience in developing, manufacturing, installing and maintaining wind turbines.

www.vestas.com/