Syria moves to link power grid with Iraq and neighboring states
Shafaq News- Damascus
Syria is working to connect its electricity grid with neighboring Iraq, Lebanon, Turkiye, Jordan, and Egypt, a local official told Shafaq News on Thursday.
Haitham Bakour, the director general of the Euphrates Dam Corporation, said that the corporation oversees management of the Euphrates River and operates the Euphrates, Tishreen, and Kdairan dams. The three dams, he added, continue to generate around 130 megawatts, supplying electricity to Raqqa province, while the combined storage capacity of the three dams stands at about 16 billion cubic meters, used to supply drinking water and irrigation.
On the Euphrates Dam, Bakour noted the facility includes eight turbines with a nominal capacity of 100 megawatts each, but four remain out of service and require comprehensive maintenance, making the dam’s maximum output about 400 megawatts, down from 800 megawatts. “The corporation has developed short-, medium-, and long-term plans aimed at restoring dam efficiency from roughly 40% to full capacity, maximizing use of incoming water, strengthening grid readiness, and increasing electricity production.”
According to Bakour, the Tishreen Dam contains six turbines, each producing about 100 megawatts, all currently operational. However, electricity generation there varies depending on water inflows from Turkiye, which fluctuate due to political conditions, water scarcity, and drought.
Earlier, a senior energy official warned that Syria’s electricity production currently meets less than one-third of national demand, leaving most areas with only four to five hours of power per day. Syria needs around 6,500 megawatts to meet demand, but produces about 2,000 megawatts due to technical breakdowns, material shortages, and funding constraints.
In August 2025, Turkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Ankara plans to begin exporting around 900 megawatts of electricity to Syria by early 2026, adding that the expanded supply could generate up to 1,200 megawatts in Aleppo and Homs, enough to power roughly five million Syrian homes.
