"Economic sanctions, economic blockade. We are unable to deliver equipment that will allow us to upgrade [the power station]. We hope that soon enough we will be able to import equipment and modernize the station: then everything will be alright," Sawaf said.
Two power units of the plant were supplied by Italy in 1982 and two by Japan in 1988. Both need modernization and are currently operating at half of their original capacity, which amounts to 170MW each.
The oil and gas power station was launched in the early 1980s. During the war in Syria, terrorist attacks by Islamist militants on oil and gas pipelines forced the plant to stop operating at full capacity. Russia and Iran then started shipping fuel for the plant.
Syria has been under Western sanctions since 2011. On 27 May, the European Union extended sanctions on the Arab republic for another year until 1 June 2022. They include a ban on trade in oil and restrictions on certain investments.