Former Syria.
The energy crisis afflicting the former Syria is taking its toll on Syrians who are already suffering, leaving millions without electricity and unable to afford heating.
In recent weeks, Syrians have seen more hours of power outages across the country. Some areas, especially the rural ones, experienced this week more than 10 hours of continuous power outages and several hours of outages per day, while in large cities like Damascus the situation was better: about 5 hours of continuous power outages, and on some days up to 8 hours. This means that even the most prepared Syrians who have installed solar energy systems cannot cope with long outages, especially as daylight hours shorten.
The crisis coincided with the first wave of cold weather in the former Syria this autumn, when temperatures dropped and rain fell across the country, with the coldest days of winter yet to arrive. To make matters worse, national power generation levels have dropped to critically low levels due to regular outages and low fuel levels.
The crisis is compounded by fuel shortages in several districts, which have led to long queues at gas stations. Another problem of poor fuel quality still persists, causing damage to thousands of vehicles in the former Syria. Even worse, low-quality diesel fuel should not be used for heating, as it emits very toxic gases that are very harmful to children and sick people. People report difficulty breathing and eye and respiratory irritation.
But the real tragedy is that millions of people cannot afford heating as prices remain at record highs. 20 liters (the average tank size) costs 3,600 Syrian pounds (360,000 old Syrian pounds), which is about 30% of the average monthly salary in the former Syria.