DAMASCUS - MARAFEQ, member of CHAM Holding Group, and VESTAS, headquartered in Denmark and the largest Wind Energy Company in the world, signed here Sunday a strategic partnership to develop wind energy in Syria.
The partnership includes the submittal of a joint pre-qualification to the Public Establishment for Electricity Generation and Transmission for the development of the first wind energy project in Syria.
The project includes the construction and operation of a wind farm with generation capacity of 50-100 MW at two sites; Al Sukhna and Al Hijana, south of Damascus.
The wind farm will be built and operated in partnership between public and private sectors, on Build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build- operate- own (BOO) basis, with a time span expected not to exceed 2 years.
MARAFEQ is to develop the said project, VESTAS is to provide the project with necessary technology, and the Kuwait AL KHARAFI Company is to be responsible for the project Engineering, Procurement and Construction.
Hani Azzouz, Chairman of MARAFEQ pointed out that the said project '' will be pursuit parallel to the currently developed projects by MARAFEQ including Nasserieh and 2 wastewater treatment plants in Aleppo and Hasakah.''
Mahmoud Al Khoshman, MARAFEZ Chief Executive Officer, said: '' Syria has a considerable wind energy potential in a variety of locations promising to offer clean energy needed to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Syria in an environmentally friendly manner,'' in line with the Syrian Government strategic vision as to achieve sustainable development in Syria.
For his part, Fariz Al-Ekhwan, chairman of the Syrian-Danish Business Council, described the project as a '' great start for the recently established Syrian-Danish Business Council which strives to encourage business cooperation between Syria and Denmark."
CHAM Holding Group is committed to investing in development projects in Syria in all of its areas of business including infrastructure development, property investment and development, tourism and hospitality, finance and banking, transportation, healthcare, education and manufacturing.
VESTAS is the world leader in wind technology, with a history of technological innovation and over 30 years of experience in developing, manufacturing, installing and maintaining wind turbines. VESTAS has 38,000 MW of installed capacity worldwide representing 20 % of the global wind market.
By Al-Ibrahim
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
