Syria · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Syrian Authorities Say Sabotage Caused Gas Line Explosion, Shutting Down Three Power Plants
Gas pipeline explosion near Tishreen plant halted gas supplies to three power plants. Deir Ali, Nasiriyah, and Tishreen plants offline due to gas supply outage.
Whether authorities identified sabotage as the cause.
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Egyptian Gazette
“after an explosion at a pipeline isolation valve, which it attributed to sabotage”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera says authorities have yet to identify the cause, while Egyptian Gazette attributes the valve blast to sabotage.
Three plants go offline
The Syrian Electricity Company reported that an explosion on a gas line at the Tishreen plant knocked the Deir Ali, al-Nasiriyah and Tishreen power plants out of service. The company said the explosion led to the stoppage of the gas supplies needed to operate the plants, and it warned that the outage would cause a temporary decrease in generated electric power and an increase in rationing hours. SANA reported that the fire began Monday evening on the gas line between Al-Shoula area and Deir ez-Zor city, after an explosion in one of the line’s valves that Syrian authorities described as the result of “sabotage.”
Hisham Al-Saleh, the head of the gas sector at the Syrian Petroleum Company, said the explosion occurred at the line’s sectional valve, which led to a halt in gas flow from the Al-Jabsa plant to the power stations. The Syrian Electricity Company said specialized teams continued to handle the incident while the fire resulting from the explosion was still ongoing.
Fire, valves, and uncertainty
Al Jazeera reported that the fire was ongoing and that authorities had not yet identified the cause of the explosion, while the Syrian Electricity Company said specialised teams were working to resolve the situation. AAl Jazeera correspondent Suhaib al-Khalaf said the explosion ignited a huge fire, with flames clearly visible from distant areas of the capital, especially from the eastern side toward the road to Damascus International Airport. AA source at the Syrian Ministry of Oil told Al Jazeera that the explosion hit the line feeding the Tishreen thermal plant in the Haran al-‘Awamid area east of Damascus, and maintenance teams worked to close the line to control the fire.
The Syrian Civil Defence announced that its teams reached the site to participate in extinguishing the blaze, but the complexity of the operation and the continuous gas flow made gaining control of the flames a significant challenge requiring more time. Al Jazeera also reported that no official statements from the Syrian Ministry of Interior or security agencies clarified the causes of the explosion, whether it was deliberate sabotage or an accident inside the plant, and that there was no confirmed information about human casualties.A
Rationing and grid impact
The Syrian Electricity Company warned that the shutdown of the three power plants would increase power rationing hours due to dwindling electricity supplies after the gas supplies were disrupted. Al Jazeera Net said moments after the explosion, power was cut to wide areas of the capital, and there was a complete blackout at the foothills of the Qasioun Mountain. AThe Syrian Electricity Company explained that the disruption of gas supplies through the line would lead to a sharp reduction in available generation capacity, meaning power cuts for broad areas of Damascus and its countryside, with a noticeable increase in scheduled outage hours.
Al-Jazirah Net reported that maintenance crews from the Ministry of Electricity faced great difficulties in closing the gas valves flowing through the damaged pipeline to control the fire, while civil defense teams arrived to participate in firefighting efforts. The Syrian Electricity Company said it would publish updates on the status of the plants and the electrical supply situation as they became available, after specialized teams worked to resolve the incident.