Syria's electricity system loses about a third of what it generates
Claim ID
LOSS-001
Exact or summary claim
Syria's electricity system loses about a third of what it generates
Destination
Chapter 8
Status
QUALIFIED
Source
World Bank, Project Appraisal Document, 9 June 2025 (SRC-351); Central Bureau of Statistics via Karam Shaar Advisory issue 4 (SRC-324); United States Embassy investor guide, May 2026 (SRC-325)
Source type
Official appraisal document of the financier
Published
2025-06-09
Accessed
2026-08-22
Measure and scope
Total system losses as a percentage of generation. The World Bank decomposes it: more than 6 per cent in transmission, 22 per cent in distribution of which almost half is technical, and 33 per cent in total once power plant losses are included
Known conflict
Four statements ranging from over 20 to 33 per cent and only one states its definition. The Central Bureau of Statistics gives 32 per cent for 2023, expressly 'lost in the network or self-consumed', against 17 per cent in 2010. Karam Shaar Advisory issue 9 gives 'more than 30%'. The embassy guide gives 'over 20 percent'. THE SOURCE MANUSCRIPT AT CHAPTER 11 LINE 3179 INSISTS THE NETWORK LOSS BE KEPT DISTINCT FROM PLANT SELF-CONSUMPTION AND SAYS CONFUSING THEM UNDERSTATES THE NETWORK PROBLEM BY A FACTOR OF FIVE; both the World Bank and the Bureau figures already include plant losses, so the distinction is drawn against a combined number and the transmission-specific figure is about 6 per cent
Specialist
Power systems and energy planning
Downstream
Chapters 8 and 11
Action
Print the World Bank's decomposition rather than a single figure, and never repeat the manuscript's factor-of-five distinction. Any loss rate names its publisher, its year, and whether self-consumption sits inside it