Syria’s Public Establishment of Electricity for Generation and Transmission (PEEGT) has awarded a $950m contract to build a 724MW natural gas-fired power plant to a Greek/Italian joint venture.

Greece’s Metka and Italy’s Ansaldo Energia will build the thermal power plant on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis at Deir Azzour region in northeast Syria.

The contract will be paid on two currencies, €671m ($941m) in euros and €7m on Syrian pounds.

Metka holds a 76.5 per cent stake in the joint venture, while partner Ansaldo Energia holds 23.5 per cent. Germany’s Siemens also competed for the contract.

The project is scheduled to enter commercial operation within 40 months from the opening of a letter of credit.