Energy in Syria

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Energy in Syria is mostly based on oil and gas. [1] Some energy infrastructure was damaged by the Syrian civil war. There is high reliance on fossil fuels for energy in Syria, [2] and electricity demand is projected to increase by 2030, especially for industry activity such as automation. [3] However, conflict in Syria has caused electricity generation to decrease by nearly 40% in recent years due to plant destruction and fuel shortages. [4] Electricity access in daily life for Syrians has also been altered due to conflict. Electricity to residents of Syria is largely provided by private diesel generators, which is costly and limited in hours of use. [5] Conflict has increased household electricity expenditures while also decreasing household income. [5] Some households have since turned to solar energy as a supplementary source of energy, though high costs limit widespread adoption. [5]

Contents

Overview

In 2021, only oil accounted for 68.2% of Syria's total energy supply. Natural gas accounted for 30.9% and Water energy(hydro) accounted for 0.7%. From 2000-2021, 22 Metric tons of C02 has been emmited, which contributes to 0.07% of total energy emissions and a 41% decrease in CO2 emissions. Electricity consumption per capita has decreased by 43% between this period, with a 4.5% share of power generation on renewables in 2021 alone. [1]

Energy in Syria [6]
CapitaPrim. energyProductionExportElectricityCO2-emission
MillionTWhTWhTWhTWhMt
200418.5821434312924.547.8
200719.892282835229.553.7
200821.232292734331.354.4
200921.092622743331.359.8
201020.452533225138.9657.76
2012R22.4017515724.226.240.1
201322.851508868.321.833.5
Change 2004-1010.1%17.8%-6.3%-60.5%59.2%20.9%
Mtoe = 11.63 TWh. Prim. energy includes energy losses

2012R = CO2 calculation criteria changed, numbers updated

While the supply, production, and emmision of coal remains insignificant, Natural gas has decreased by 42% in terms of production within 2000-2021. [1]

Electricity

Pre-2011

In the 2000s, Syria's electric power system struggled to meet the growing demands presented by an increasingly energy-hungry society. Demand grew by roughly 7.5% per year during this decade, fueled by the expansion of Syria's industrial and service sectors, the spread of energy-intensive home appliances, and state policies (i.e. high subsidies and low tariffs) that encouraged wasteful energy practices. [7] [8] Syria's inefficient transmission infrastructure compounded these problems: In 2002, Electricity Minister Munib Saem al-Daher stated that 26% of the country's total electricity production was wasted in transmission, amounting to USD 57.7 billion in losses. [9] These factors together resulted in increasingly frequent power cuts, which in turn fueled public frustration. [10]

Throughout this period, the Syrian government sought to close the supply gap by investing in new electricity generation infrastructure. Investments moved away from oil-powered infrastructure and toward gas-fueled power plants, [11] reflecting Syria's declining domestic oil production, improved access to natural gas, and the superior efficiency of gas-fed combined cycle power plants. [7] New investments relied significantly on international technical expertise to execute projects, notably by the German firm Siemens, [12] but also by firms hailing from Iran, [13] India, [14] and elsewhere. They also relied on international financing, including from the European Investment Bank [15] and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. [16]

Wartime disruption

The Syrian civil war wrought havoc on the country's electricity system, leading to increasingly frequent blackouts across the country, disruptions to all forms of economic activity, [17] and reports that electrical fires increased due to problems with the electrical grid. [18]

Infrastructural damage

Swathes of Syria's generation and transmission infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, due to a combination of bombardment by Syrian government forces, aerial attacks by the US-led international military intervention against the Islamic State, attacks by insurgent groups, and looting by armed factions. Between 2015 and 2017, violence and looting destroyed three major power plants, namely the Aleppo Thermal Station, Zayzoon in Idlib, and al-Taim in Deir Ezzor. Pre-war, these three plants had accounted for almost one-fifth of Syria's total generation capacity. In 2021, Syria's Ministry of Electricity estimated total losses to the electricity sector at USD 2.4 billion. [7]

Resource scarcity

In addition to infrastructural damage, war also left Syria with acute shortages of the fuel and water needed to power Syria's thermal and hydroelectric infrastructure. On one side, the Syrian government's loss of major oil and gas fields first to the Islamic State and then to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria contributed to extreme fuel scarcity and thus a reliance on imports, notably from Iran. [19] On the other, rising temperatures, diminished rainfall, and Turkish restrictions on the flow of the Euphrates River brought the latter's water levels to a crisis point, thus threatening the capacity of the three dams located along the Euphrates in Syria: namely the Tabqa Dam, Baath Dam, and Tishrin Dam. [20] [21] [22]

Expertise scarcity

Pre-2011, Syria relied heavily on foreign expertise to spearhead the most complex forms of investment in Syria's electrical sector, including repairing and installing generation infrastructure. After a decade of war, the combination of international sanctions and foreign exchange shortages had created major obstacles to bringing in foreign expertise. [7] To make matters worse, Syria's own pool of homegrown technical competence was reduced by a relentless brain drain [23] and devastating setbacks to the country's education sector. [24]

Sanctions

US and EU sanctions further undermined Syria's electricity sector, including by barring foreign (i.e. European and Arab) entities from extending loans or implementing infrastructure projects and by straining Syria's ability to import fuel and spare parts. [7]

Oil and gas

In 2010 oil accounted for about a quarter of Syria's income, estimated as $3.2bn for 2010, and almost all oil exports were to the EU. Production was 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m3/d) in 2009 and exports about 150,000 barrels per day (24,000 m3/d), mainly Germany, Italy and France. According to BBC oil reserves were 2.5bn barrels in 2010. [25] During the civil war before the fall of Assad the country depended on oil imports from Iran. [26] As of end-2024 some of the country’s largest oilfields are in territory controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces. [26]

Natural gas production is estimated to have fallen from 8.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2011 to 3 bcm in 2023. [26] The Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) is a state-owned oil company established in 1974.

Oil refinery in Homs Oil refinery in Homs, 2010.jpg
Oil refinery in Homs

Syria's petroleum industry has been subject to a sharp decline. In September 2014, ISIS was producing more oil than the government at 80,000 bbl/d (13,000 m3/d) compared to the government's 17,000 bbl/d (2,700 m3/d) with the Syrian Oil Ministry stating that by the end of 2014, oil production had plunged further to 9,329 bbl/d (1,483.2 m3/d); ISIS has since captured a further oil field, leading to a projected oil production of 6,829 bbl/d (1,085.7 m3/d). [27] In the third year of the Syrian civil war, the deputy economy minister Salman Hayan stated that Syria's two main oil refineries were operating at less than 10% capacity. [28]

Historically, the country produced heavy-grade oil from fields located in the northeast since the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, light-grade, low-sulphur oil was discovered near Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria. Syria's rate of oil production has decreased dramatically from a peak close to 600,000 barrels per day (95,000 m3/d) (bpd) in 1995 down to less than 182,500 bbl/d (29,020 m3/d) in 2012. [29] Since 2012 the production has decreased even more, reaching 32,000 barrels per day (5,100 m3/d) (bpd) in 2014. Official figures quantity the production in 2015 at 27,000 barrels per day (4,300 m3/d), but those figures have to be taken with precaution because it is difficult to estimate the oil that is currently produced in the rebel held areas.

Prior to the uprising, more than 90% of Syrian oil exports were to EU countries, with the remainder going to Turkey. [30] Oil and gas revenues constituted in 2012 around 20% of total GDP and 25% of total government revenue. [30]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Syria - Countries & Regions". IEA. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  2. ↑ Hainoun, A., Omar, H., Almoustafa, S., Seif-Eldin, M. K., & Meslmani, Y. (2014). Future development of Syrian power sector in view of GHG Mitigation Options. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 38, 1045–1055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.090
  3. ↑ Hainoun, A., Seif-Eldin, M. K., & Almoustafa, S. (2006). Analysis of the Syrian long-term energy and electricity demand projection using the end-use methodology. Energy Policy, 34(14), 1958–1970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2004.12.024
  4. ↑ Rosner, K. (2016). (tech.). Water and Electric Power in Iraq and Syria: Conflict and Fragility Implications for the Future. Robert Strauss Center.
  5. 1 2 3 Omar, F. A., Mahmoud, I., Hussian, A., Mohr, L., Abdullah, H. O. and Farzat, A. (2020) The effect of the Syrian crisis on electricity supply and the household life in North-West Syria: a university-based study, Education and Conflict Review, 3, 77–86.
  6. ↑ IEA Key World Energy Statistics Statistics 2015 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine , 2014 (2012R as in November 2015 Archived 2015-04-05 at the Wayback Machine + 2012 as in March 2014 is comparable to previous years statistical calculation criteria, 2013 Archived 2014-09-02 at the Wayback Machine , 2012 Archived 2013-03-09 at the Wayback Machine , 2011 Archived 2011-10-27 at the Wayback Machine , 2010 Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine , 2009 Archived 2013-10-07 at the Wayback Machine , 2006 Archived 2009-10-12 at the Wayback Machine IEA October, crude oil p.11, coal p. 13 gas p. 15
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Hatahet, Sinan; Shaar, Karam (2021-07-31). "Syria's Electricity Sector After a Decade of War: A Comprehensive Assessment". European University Institute. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  8. ↑ "Demand for Electricity Rose 5.9 Percent in 2009". Syria Report. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  9. ↑ "26 percent in power transmission network loss". Syria Report. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  10. ↑ "Syria Continues to Face Severe Power Cuts". Syria Report. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  11. ↑ "Syria to rely increasingly on gas power stations". Syria Report. 9 March 2002. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  12. ↑ "Siemens, Koch clinch power plant expansion contract". Syria Report. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  13. ↑ "Iran sets up electrical sub-stations in Syria". Syria Report. 17 December 2001. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  14. ↑ "ABB India gets US$16.65 million Syria order". Syria Report. 24 December 2001. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  15. ↑ "EIB to loan EUR 200 million for new Deir-ez-Zor Power Plant". Syria Report. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  16. ↑ "Infrastructure brief : AFESD loans USD 100 million to Deir-ez-Zor power plant". Syria Report. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  17. ↑ "Power cuts stall industrial revival in Syria's Aleppo". France 24. 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  18. ↑ "ثلاثة حرائق في دمشق وحلب بسبب تماس كهربائي". عنب بلدي (in Arabic). 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  19. ↑ Shaar, Karam. "The Syrian Oil Crisis: Causes, Possible Responses, and Implications". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  20. ↑ Trew, Bel (2021-11-02). "Half of Syria has been displaced by war. Now record drought threatens millions more". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  21. ↑ Sala, Daniela; Laffert, Bartholomäus von; Mohammad, Shaveen (2021-11-10). "'Killing us slowly': dams and drought choke Syria's water supply – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  22. ↑ "Turkish dams threaten northeast Syria with ecological and economic blight". Syria Direct. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  23. ↑ "Syria's brain drain – another twist to the country's crisis". The New Humanitarian. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  24. ↑ "Syrian higher education system facing 'complete breakdown' after eight years of war – study". University of Cambridge. 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  25. ↑ EU steps up Syria sanctions with ban on oil imports 2 September 2011 BBC
  26. 1 2 3 "How has the fall of Assad impacted Syria's energy sector?".
  27. ↑ "Syria regime revenues shrink as losses mount". The Daily Star. Agence France-Presse. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  28. ↑ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (27 January 2015). "Syria raises fuel prices to snuff out black market, soothe unrest". Reuters. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  29. ↑ "Syria's oil production on Index Mundi" . Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  30. 1 2 "The Syrian Economy: Hanging by a Thread". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 20 June 2012.
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