Damascus, Oct. 3 (SANA) Deir Ali, Tishreen and al-Nasiriyah power plants form a key trio within Syria’s electricity-generation system because of their installed capacity, geographic distribution and links to the national transmission grid.
Their recent temporary shutdown highlighted the strategic importance of technical alternatives and backup fuel supplies in maintaining stable power generation.
Deir Ali and al-Nasiriyah resumed operations as soon as gas supplies were restored, while Tishreen remains offline because of damage to its equipment and the pipeline supplying it with gas.
The situation has once again underscored differences in operational readiness among the plants, the available alternative operating options and the close relationship between Syria’s gas and electricity systems.
Geographically, all three plants are located in Damascus countryside. Deir Ali lies near the town of the same name, about 30 kilometers south of Damascus, while al-Nasiriyah is near the city of Jayroud, about 60 kilometers northeast of the capital. Tishreen is located in the Wadiyan al-Rabie area near Harran al-Awamid in Eastern Ghouta, between 40 and 50 kilometers from Damascus.
Syria’s total power generation currently stands at about 3,500 megawatts, up from nearly 915 megawatts at the time of liberation, according to official figures released by the Energy Ministry on Sept. 20.
Deir Ali leads with 1,500-megawatt capacity
Deir Ali is the largest of the three plants, with a total nominal capacity of about 1,500 megawatts distributed across two combined-cycle blocks.
Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir recently said that a generating unit with a capacity of nearly 700 megawatts had been brought back online, while work was underway to rehabilitate the second expansion project and restore an additional 120 megawatts.
Al-Nasiriyah has an operating capacity of about 450 megawatts, according to Energy Ministry estimates. The plant was officially restarted early this year following the arrival of gas supplies through Jordan.
It had operated for years at no more than 30% of its maximum capacity because of gas shortages, leaving its actual output directly dependent on the availability of fuel supplies.
Tishreen’s various sections have a combined nominal capacity of about 1,050 megawatts, including approximately 400 megawatts from steam turbines, 200 megawatts from simple-cycle gas turbines and 450 megawatts from its combined-cycle system.
While the steam section is undergoing comprehensive rehabilitation, output from the gas turbines had been limited to about 100 megawatts because of gas shortages. Their output could technically rise to about 400 megawatts if sufficient fuel supplies were available.
How do the three plants serve Damascus and southern Syria
Oil and energy expert Dr. Ahmad al-Duhaik told SANA that electricity generated by the three plants is not allocated exclusively to a particular geographic area or province.
Instead, it is fed directly into the unified national grid and redistributed according to demand, the readiness of transmission lines, the capacity of substations and instructions issued by the National Control Center.
Their geographic location, however, makes them particularly important for supplying Damascus, its countryside and the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida, as well as industrial complexes and zones across Damascus countryside.
Al-Duhaik said the project to rehabilitate 120 megawatts of capacity at Deir Ali, for example, would directly improve services for more than 2 million people in Damascus countryside, Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida.
Declining generation levels also directly affect productive sectors, particularly industrial cities such as Adra Industrial City.
The consequences of reduced electricity supplies are not limited to longer household power cuts, but also affect the electricity allocated to industrial facilities, water-pumping stations and essential public services.
Why does the transmission grid limit the plants’ ability to compensate
Al-Duhaik said the concentration of a large share of Syria’s generating capacity in the southern region means that the simultaneous shutdown of several plants has a direct impact on the stability of the entire system.
In many cases, lost generation cannot be offset simply by having surplus capacity available at geographically distant plants.
The process is subject to technical constraints, including the carrying capacity of 230- and 400-kilovolt high-voltage transmission lines, substation capacity and the need to maintain grid-frequency balance and voltage stability.
In responding to the latest incident, technical teams adopted a strategy based on isolating the damaged section and rerouting gas pressure through intact pipelines instead of waiting for repairs to the pipeline supplying Tishreen.
These measures show that a rapid response to emergencies caused by gas shortages depends on three parallel tracks:
Isolating damaged sections and using alternative routes within the gas transmission network.
Operating technically ready generating units with reserve liquid fuel.
Redistributing electricity loads among power plants and provinces until suspended generating capacity is restored.
Expert outlines three technical alternatives during gas disruptions
Al-Duhaik said the first operational priority is to isolate the fault and reroute gas through safe pipelines.
This approach was applied by gradually restoring pressure to the section of the Arab Gas Pipeline between Adra and Deir Ali, leading to the resumption of operations at Deir Ali and al-Nasiriyah.
According to al-Duhaik, this confirmed that the shutdowns at the two plants were caused solely by a disruption in fuel supplies rather than faults in the generating units themselves.
Tishreen, meanwhile, remained offline because of direct damage to its technical equipment and gas pipeline.
The second option is to use alternative fuel in units equipped for dual-fuel operation. Some steam units at Tishreen are designed to operate on either gas or fuel oil and have a combined capacity of about 400 megawatts.
However, both units are undergoing rehabilitation, preventing their immediate use as an effective backup.
For gas turbines and combined-cycle systems, the possibility of switching to liquid fuel depends on the engineering design of each turbine, the type of equipment installed, the efficiency of its fuel-treatment systems and its overall technical condition.
The plant therefore cannot be treated as a single unit capable of automatically and fully switching from gas to fuel oil or diesel.
How can Syria strengthen generation alternatives and grid reserves?
Al-Duhaik said another option would be to raise operating loads at other plants, including Jandar, Baniyas, Mhardeh and al-Zara, while also increasing the use of hydropower.
This option, however, remains constrained by available fuel supplies, the technical readiness of generating units and the transmission grid’s carrying capacity.
The return of Deir Ali and al-Nasiriyah to service in less than 24 hours demonstrated considerable flexibility in managing supply disruptions, the expert said.
Tishreen’s continued shutdown, however, highlights the need to strengthen strategic alternatives by building looped and alternative gas routes, increasing strategic fuel reserves at dual-fuel plants, completing rehabilitation work at Tishreen and Deir Ali and reinforcing electricity interconnections between generation centers and consumption areas.
Diversifying Syria’s energy mix is also essential to the security of the electricity system. This would involve combining domestic and imported gas, dual-fuel generating units, hydropower and regional interconnection projects, as well as the future expansion of solar and wind projects integrated with energy-storage systems.
Al-Duhaik concluded that electricity security should not be measured solely by total installed capacity, but also by the national system’s ability to recover and maintain supplies after the loss of a gas pipeline, power plant or major transmission route.
Building resilience and providing technical alternatives and reserves are therefore essential to the development of this vital sector, he said.
N.J/MZN
