Syria's Devastated Electrical Grid Gets Boost From Powerships

Turkey and Qatar are joining forces to provide two floating power stations for the new government of Syria, an official in Damascus announced Tuesday.

The Syrian electrical grid has been devastated by more than a decade of warfare, and now that the country is under new management, its neighbors are moving swiftly to help it stabilize its infrastructure. Electricity is a pressing need, and the Turkish government is stepping in to help - with a boost from Karpowership, the floating powerplant operator based in Istanbul.  

Last week, Karpowership confirmed to Reuters that it was among the alternatives under consideration to provide new sources of electricity to the damaged Syrian grid, though it was too early to announce any decisions. Khaled Abu Di, head of Syria's public power authority, told state news agency Sana this week that his agency is getting two floating power plants funded by Turkey and Qatar. These would add 800 MW of capacity to the Syrian grid, enough to increase national power production by about half, he said. 

Karpowership is the world's only operator of mobile, charter-ready floating power plants. It operates a fleet of more than three dozen powerships, each capable of putting out hundreds of megawatts using multiple HFO or gas-fired diesel generators. These ships are often deployed to less-developed nations to plug gaps in generating capacity, and Karpowership has attracted customers across the global south.

Under the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, who fought a brutal civil war to maintain power from 2011-2024, Syria's economy shrank by an estimated 85 percent. The power grid was no exception, and many Syrian regions now get only a few hours of electricity per day.  

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the U.S.-designated terrorist organization that ousted al-Assad last month, is attempting to normalize relations with its neighbors and reintegrate Syria with the outside world. It has received a significant boost from the Biden administration, which granted a sanctions exemption allowing the sale and transfer of energy cargoes to Syrian customers (even though stringent restrictions remain in place on HTS itself). That exception would allow tanker shipments of bunker fuel to be delivered for the two newly-pledged powerships.