Türkiye plans to deliver 6 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day to Syria within the next three months to help generate electricity in the war-torn country, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said late Thursday.
The natural gas, projected to reach 2 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually, will generate electricity in Syria, Bayraktar said during an interview with Turkish news channel CNN Turk.
He said the 6 mcm of gas per day will be delivered via pipeline from Türkiye’s southeastern Kilis province to a natural gas power plant in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo, where it will generate electricity.
“We have made rapid progress in Syria because our natural gas line has already extended to Kilis, near the Syrian border,” he added. “We will effectively be supplying fuel to the gas power plants there.”
Bayraktar also noted that efforts have begun to supply electricity directly to Syria alongside natural gas. Türkiye is currently providing about 200 megawatts of electricity to Aleppo and has completed the necessary permitting procedures for further exports, the Turkish minister added.
‘We plan to increase this by an additional 500 megawatts, aiming to reach between 700 and 800 megawatts of electricity exports in the coming months,’ he explained.
Bayraktar noted that 13 years of war in Syria have severely damaged the country’s infrastructure.
Noting that Syria’s new Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir recently made his first foreign visit to Türkiye and highlighted Syria’s dire energy needs, Bayraktar said, ‘During our bilateral meeting, the minister told me, ‘I need 10,000 megawatts for Syria, but I can only generate 1,700 megawatts at the moment’.’
‘Wherever you go in Syria today, you’ll see generators in front of every home. People are trying to generate power in a mobile way. So, our contribution is significant,’ he added.
He noted the importance of Türkiye’s energy exports to Syria, Bayraktar said, ‘Syria’s oil, gas and mineral resources must quickly be brought into the economy to meet its needs.’
