What is happening at the park, in the order it happens. New items are added as the project moves from agreements to construction.
Construction of the solar park begins this month with a groundbreaking ceremony on site in the Rural Damascus Governorate.
The ceremony marks the start of works for all three plants. The first months on site are about preparation: access roads, the site boundary, the workers' camp and the vocational training centre that will prepare the first cohorts of Syrian workers.
Photographs and a short report will be published here after the ceremony.
Geotechnical, hydrology and topography surveys have started on site, and the final environmental and social assessment is in progress.
Before the first panel is installed, the ground is being studied in detail: boreholes and soil tests for the foundations and the substation, drainage and flood paths across the site, and a precise survey of its contours.
The environmental and social impact assessment, prepared to the standards of the International Finance Corporation, is being finalised on the basis of the preliminary studies completed earlier this year. Its management plan will govern how dust, water, traffic, wildlife and worker welfare are handled through construction and operation.
The power purchase agreements for the three plants were signed at a ceremony in Damascus under the supervision of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, alongside technical cooperation agreements with Saudi Electricity Project Development Co. and Siemens Energy.
The ceremony brought together the Saudi and Syrian sides behind the park. The three power purchase agreements, which run for 20 to 25 years, were signed with the Syrian electricity authorities. Alongside them, Mohammed Ahmad Al-Harfi Contracting Co. signed a technical cooperation agreement with Saudi Electricity Project Development Co. (PDC), which will provide engineering and advisory services for the projects, and one with Siemens Energy covering main substations, power generation and energy storage.
The signing was widely reported in the regional and international press; a list of coverage is on the Media page.
Long-term agreements to sell the park's electricity to the national grid were signed with the Ministry of Energy and the Public Establishment for Electricity.
The agreements cover each of the three plants separately and give the park's electricity a buyer for decades to come. With them in place, the project moved from development into preparation for construction.
The agreements were signed by the Shams Al-Sham project companies, sponsored by Mohammed Ahmad Al-Harfi Contracting Co. (MAH), and by the Syrian electricity authorities.
At a ceremony in Damascus, Mohammed Ahmad Al-Harfi Contracting Co. and the Syrian Ministry of Energy signed a binding memorandum of understanding for a 210 MW solar plant with 827 MWh of battery storage.
The memorandum covered the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant that is now Plant 1 of the park. Over the following months the programme grew to three plants on the same site, sharing one connection to the grid.
The ceremony took place at the Ministry of Energy with the Saudi and Syrian delegations present. Photographs: Syrian Ministry of Energy.
