Electricity was restored in three Syrian provinces on Wednesday morning, hours after a nationwide power cut in the country suffering from severe shortages.
Khaled Aboudi, director general of the Public Corporation for Electricity Transmission and Distribution, told state media that power “has been restored to the provinces of Homs, Hama and Tartous” in central and coastal Syria. “It will gradually return to the remaining provinces,” he added.
A nationwide power cut in Syria plunged the country into darkness on Tuesday evening after a “technical malfunction in the electrical system”, according to authorities. Technical teams were working to repair the issue and gradually restore electricity across the country.
Syria faces chronic power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two to three hours a day in most areas. Damage to the electricity grid means that generating or supplying more power is only part of the challenge. Syria’s estimated electricity demand is 6,500 megawatts. Authorities pledged two weeks ago to increase daily supply hours to eight. However, they said that 24-hour electricity coverage remains out of reach.
Years of civil war has devastated much of Syria's energy infrastructure, including its power grid and gas refineries. Once an oil exporter, Syria has been unable to export petroleum since 2011 due to stringent international sanctions.
Damascus previously relied on Iranian oil for power generation, but those supplies have been cut off since the overthrow of president Bashar Al Assad in December. The interim government has promised to quickly increase the power supply, partly by importing electricity from Jordan and using floating power barges that have yet to arrive.
Last month, Qatar began supplying Syria with gas through Jordan. The Qatar Fund for Development said the supplies would enable the generation of 400 megawatts of electricity per day in the first phase, with production capacity gradually increasing at the Deir Ali power plant.