MEED reported that Syria's Public Establishment of Electricity for Transmission & Generation has shortlisted 3 consultants to advise on the country's first wind farm project.

According to a source at PEEGT a total of 6 bids were submitted of which Germany's Fichtner, the UK's IPA Energy and Water Economics and US headquartered Booz & Company have been shortlisted. The 3 bids are now being evaluated by a technical committee and a final selection is expected to be made by the end of May.

The winning consultant will supervise the bidding process and train PEEGT's staff to handle the project. The exact size of the wind farm will be determined by PEEGT in collaboration with its selected adviser but it will fall in the 50 MW to 100MW range.

Two sites have been earmarked as possible locations for the wind farm. The Al Sukhna site is 70 kilometers east of Palmyra while the Al Hijana site 50 kilometers south of Damascus.

PEEGT has already launched the search for a developer to build the project and it has received a total of 15 responses to request for qualification. According to PEEGT, a request for proposals to build the project will be issued soon after the adviser is in place.

The winning bidder will develop the wind farm on a build own operate or build operate transfer basis. The project company will design, finance, build, own and operate the wind farm for 20 to 25 years.

(Sourced from MEED)