Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) has signed an agreement with Syrian Qatari Holding (SQH) to jointly develop, construct, finance and operate two power plants in Syria.

The principles of agreement follows a memorandum of understanding, which was signed between the two companies and the Syrian Electricity Ministry last year.

When complete, the projects will have a capacity of 450MW each and are to operate as combined cycle gas-fired power plants.

The projects, to be commissioned by June 2013, will be located close to the oilfields in Adra in the north eastern region of Syria. Construction will start in April 2011.

The plants are expected to cost more than $1bn and will be funded by a combination of equity and project finance debt.

The sponsors are looking to bring an international power company on board to also work on the projects.

A long-term fuel supply agreement has been reached with the Syrian Petroleum and Natural Mineral Resources Ministry to facilitate the supply of gas to the two facilities.

Power generated from the two plants would be transferred to the Syrian national grid through a long-term power purchase agreement or an energy conversion agreement, both of which have the same duration as the fuel supply agreement.