Syria’s Public Establishment for Electrical Generation & Transfer (PEEGT) plans to launch the second stage of prequalification for developers to build an independent power project (IPP) at Al-Nasserieh by the end of May.

PEEGT issued a request for qualification (RFQ) in May 2009 to select developers to build a 230-250MW plant using heavy fuel oil as feedstock.

In November 2009, Damascus prequalified two consortiums, the Marafeq consortium consisting of the local Cham Holding and several Kuwaiti firms, and Finland’s Wartsila with Greece’s Terna Energy.

The project will be built on a site adjacent to an existing power plant at Al-Nasserieh

The Syrian agency was then joined by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as adviser on the project in December 2009 (MEED 15:11:09).

A new RFQ is now being finalised by PEEGT and the IFC to enable further developers to participate in the tender in the second round of prequalification. This will be issued by the end of May.

The project will be built on a site adjacent to an existing power plant at Al-Nasserieh, 60 kilometres north of Damascus.

The project is set to benefit from finance sourced from European donors. PEEGT and the IFC are now holding talks with the Belgian government.

PEEGT has a monopoly in the Syrian power generation and transmission market, with total installed capacity of 7,800MW.

In addition to the planned IPP, PEEGT is currently seeking advisers for a 50-100MW wind farm to be located at either Al-Sukhna, 70 kilometres east of Palmyra, or Al-Hijana, 50km south of Damascus, or at both sites.