Syria prequalifies developers for wind farm

28 March 2011

Request for proposals to be invited by summer

Syria’s Public Establishment of Electricity for Generation & Transmission (PEEGT) has qualified nine groups to bid to build a wind farm.

The following companies have been prequalified:

  • Terna (Greece)
  • Orascom (Egypt)
  • Marafeq (Syria)/Vestas (Denmark)
  • Sinosteel Tiancheng (China)
  • ElSewedy (Egypt)/Fersa (Spain)
  • Tefirom Group (Turkey)/Delta Petroleum (US)/Vestas (Denmark)/Arabian Engineering Consultants (Syria)
  • Guris (Turkey)
  • Sina Enerji (Turkey)
  • Iberdrola Renovables (Spain)

The following companies were rejected at prequalification:

  • ESI Consortium (US)
  • Ayen Enerji (Turkey)
  • Shinhan (China)
  • C & C Energy (Italy)
  • ASTE (Syria)
  • Busiwind Park Energy (US)
  • International Power (UK)

The request for qualification (RFQ) was issued in 2009 and drew 17 responses. PEEGT then appointed a UK-based consortium of IPA Energy & Water Economics, Norton Rose and SgurrEnergy to advise on the project in July 2010.

“The level of interest and the quality of the shortlist are very encouraging and help to pave the way for a successful tender process” says Richard Kupisz, associate director at IPA Energy & Water Economics.

The winning bidder will develop the wind farm as an independent power project (IPP) and operate it for 20-25 years.

Two sites have been earmarked for the wind farm at Al-Sukhna, which is 70 kilometres east of Palmyra, and Al-Hijana, which is 50km south of Damascus. Each site is suitable for a 50-100MW project.

A request for proposals (RFP) is set to be issued this summer to coincide with the enactment of a law for PPP projects in Syria.

“The purpose [of the law] is to help plug some of the gaps in the correct legislative manner. Previously, these modern contracts have been fit into the existing civil code. [The pre-PPP law situation] has simply not been bankable,” says Norton Rose’s Richard Metcalf, one of the advisers on the project.

The wind project will be Syria’s second independent power project as it will follow a fossil fuel-fired project at Al-Nasserieh, which is currently being tendered.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.