Rehabilitation of the Medium Voltage Grid in Selected Areas of Dar’a Governorate

The medium voltage grid in Dar’a Governorate has not been adequately maintained since the start of the conflict due to the lack of resources and equipment. Medium voltage hardware such as circuit breakers, underground cables, overhead conductors, fuses, poles, towers, isolators, disconnectors and other assets have been damaged or destroyed. Part of the medium voltage underground cables have become out of service due to a lack of maintenance and inability to locate faults. Therefore, residential areas continue to suffer from frequent and long-lasting electricity blackouts and reduced availability of electric power to few hours per day. Frequent disruptions of power supplies are also negatively affecting essential service providers such as food security systems, health care facilities, water distribution networks, etc.

The increased unreliability of the public grid in the governorate will be tackled by this project, which aims at restoring and supporting the maintenance capacitates of local electricity units in Dar’a Governorate. Prior to the outbreak of conflict in Syria, maintenance works of public grids were carried out by the Public Establishment for the Distribution of Electricity. Currently it is the responsibility of the Energy Directorate of Dar’a Governorate, which is the designated implementing entity (IE) of this project, to ensure the maintenance and functioning of the public grids in the governorate. Seeking to improve power supplies at both the household level and the level of essential sectors that service the community, the project will realize its objectives through the following means and activities:

• Procurement, supply and deployment of fixed and consumable assets, including underground cables, fuses, insulators with accessories, joint boxes, and terminal boxes (all 20kv); cable fault detector and test devices, such as current injection devices and oil breakdown voltage testers, circuit breakers for medium voltage switchgear cubicles, overcurrent protection devices, outdoor air insulated switches disconnectors, conductors, poles and towers with accessories, telescopic platforms, basket cranes, electricity generators, IT equipment, office supplies, transformer oil, and safety clothes.

• Carrying out civil works that include digging holes for poles, casting concrete bases, and erecting distribution towers, excavation and filling for replacement of damaged sections of underground cables and rehabilitation of IE offices.

• Subsidizing the IE’s manpower, including engineers and specialized technicians, for 12 months, giving the directorate sufficient time to restore regular current supply services and regular billing and fee collection, which will enable it to sustain all staffing and running costs of the grid.

At a total cost of approximately EUR 4.91 million, the project is expected to fully rehabilitate the Governorate’s medium voltage electricity network. This will result in improved services for 500,000 inhabitants with permanent residency in moderate-opposition-controlled areas of Dar’a Governorate. In addition, a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their families, who currently reside in the selected project locations, will also benefit in terms of consumption of energy supplies. The rehabilitation of the network will also result in improved public services provided by other sectors requiring electricity, including hospitals and clinics, potable water pumping stations and networks, schools, commercial centers, food processing facilities, etc.

The project, which will be implemented over a period of 18 months, will further buildup and upscale the capacity of IE to perform all, including complex, maintenance works on a regular basis in order to ensure the long-term functionality and sustainability of the public grids. This will not only improve the living conditions of direct beneficiaries but will also contribute to the revival of the local economy and to the welfare of the entire population of Dar’a Governorate.

For further information on the project, please see: