Turkish attacks put power plants in NE Syria out of service – AANES
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – An official in the Energy Office of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on Sunday Turkey’s targeting of the Sweidiya gas plant in the countryside of Derik, far northeastern Syria, put other power stations out of service.
The attack led to the shutdown of all power stations in Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria, because they were supplied with power from the main and only power facility.
On Oct. 5, the Turkish army launched drone strikes on infrastructure facilities in several areas of north and northeast Syria that is run by the AANES. The strikes took place following a statement by Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, in which he threatened to strike a broader range of targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the Ankara attack.
On Oct. 1, two individuals carried out a bomb attack in front of the building of the Ministry of Interior in Turkey’s Ankara injuring two police officers.
On Oct. 4, Fidan claimed that the two attackers had been trained in Syria. “From now on, all infrastructure, large facilities and energy facilities belonging to (armed Kurdish groups) in Iraq and Syria are legitimate targets for our security forces,” he threatened.
On Oct. 6, the Sweidiya gas and power facility was completely out of service as a result of the attacks. The turbines that generate electricity for the cities of Hasakah, Qamishli, Derbasiyah, and Amuda were targeted twice, according to previous statement made by an official in the Sweidiya plant.
Ziyad Restum, co-chair of the Energy Office of the AANES, told North Press, “The power stations of the Sad Gharbi in Hasakah was targeted, next the station in Qamishli, Amuda, and then Tirbe Spiyeh (al-Qahtaniya)went out of service. In the process of assessing these damages, Sweidiya plant, the only plant generating power, was targeted and this put the remaining stations that were intact out of service.”
He pointed out that the attack affected the entire service sector, including electricity, drinking water, mills, and some health facilities due to the lack of electricity in the area.
Restum explained that an entire 23 megawatts capacity turbine was out of service in the Rmelan Oil Companies. According to international prices, the cost of each megawatt is one million dollars, in addition to the remaining equipment at the station such as cables, current and voltage transformers. The cost will exceed $40 million, and these are preliminary figures. After calculating the cost of import, installation, accessories and required oils, the number will be doubled,” according to Restum.
On Saturday, the Foreign Relations Department of the AANES stated in a press conference that the Turkish attacks “left more than two million people without services such as water and electricity.”
“The energy sector already suffered from difficulty in securing essential parts to operate the facilities, as they are out of date. The manufacturing companies are contracted with the Syrian Ministry of Electricity. They do not allow the import of these equipment for the AANES,” he added.