Syria's electricity situation improving with foreign support, report finds

Analysis by Crisis-Syria group finds recovery uneven as a result of differences in infrastructure and political factors

A shed housing electricity generators in the Syrian city of Qamishli. Reuters

Electricity supply in Syria has improved since the overthrow of its former dictator Bashar Al Assad last December ended nearly 14 years of civil war, but the recovery remains uneven, according to a report released this week.

The Mercy Corps Crisis Analysis - Syria report, relied on analysis of satellite imagery of night light reflectance (NLR), which measures the amount of light emitted from different areas at night, as well as data on sources of electricity and daily hours of supply from surveys conducted by Reach.

The report noted that following the installation of a transitional government by former rebel forces, efforts to restore Syria’s electricity supply have received strong support from Turkey and Gulf states, as well as a boost with the first deliveries last month of natural gas from Azerbaijan for its power plants.

In June, the World Bank approved a $146 million grant to restore transmission lines, substations and high-voltage transformer substations, and provide capacity building support to institutions managing the electricity sector. These investments should boost generation and extend daily hours of supply, which was between two to six hours per day for most communities in April, the report said.

According to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Bank, electricity consumption in Syria decreased from an average of 1,611 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per capita in 2010, the year before the war started, to 690 kWh per capita in 2022.

Syria’s electricity sector was already struggling to keep pace with demand before the uprising against Assad family rule began in 2011, as a result of lack of investment and maintenance of power plants and the electricity grid. During the war, fighting damaged or destroyed major power plants, and transmission infrastructure.

The fragmentation of the country into government-controlled areas and those controlled by various groups also affected distribution. This led to increased reliance on generators and solar power in some areas, such as the autonomously run north-east, or on external support, such as the rebel-held north-west, which turned to Turkey for its power supply and distribution system.

Workers maintain power transformers in the Damascus countryside. Reuters

In the post-Assad era, connectivity to the electricity grid as well as political factors have also played a role in which areas have showed the greatest improvement in power supply, according to the report.

In Deir Ezzor governorate, there was improvement in 84 per cent of sites in areas that remained under the control of the Assad regime and are now under the government in Damascus, it said. In comparison, there was improvement in only 62 per cent of sites in areas under the Kurdish-led north-eastern administration, which has resisted ceding control to the new government.

“The gap illustrates how access to electricity infrastructure is contingent not just on where lines run, but on whether political arrangements facilitate or constrain their use,” it said.

The report also found that electricity consumption grew at a slower pace “in regions with nominal grid connectivity but which had experienced violent conflict since the fall of the Assad regime”, particularly Damascus, Latakia, Tartus and Sweida.

“Among these regions, Sweida is likely most at risk of being excluded from improvements to Syria’s electricity capacity due to persistent political rifts with the new government,” it said.