A Syrian family who never accepted the common saying that capital should be fled out in war times, and who believed in the inevitability of Syrian victory, based on the saying (when the war starts, build plants), they faced all the difficulties with determination and perseverance, performing the factory expansion in 2013 and speeding up the work pace to be a milestone in the world and another point of distinction for Syria, which proved that the Syrian people deserve victory, life and excellence.

From A to Z

WDRVM (an abbreviation combines the first letters of the family members’ s names) for renewable energies and heavy industries has succeeded in manufacturing, assembling, and installing the first wind turbine of its kind in MENA. The step that turned into a qualitative achievement and a promising start with national expertise and hands.

Valerina Walid Elias, the executive director of the company, stated that the turbine which was installed near Sheen Bridge in Al- Dhahabiyah village on Homs-Tartous highway is unique because it’s been manufactured, installed and operated from A to Z by Syrian experts. Where the turbine weights 2500 tons from foundation to top. It’s capacity is 2.5 MW, it has three blades, each one is 50.3 meters long and weights 11.5 tons with a rotating diameter of 103 meters.

These blades are installed on the hub, the rotor weights about 60 tons, the nacelle which is installed above the tower weights 120 tons, the nacelle and the rotor reaches 180 tons; the tower height is up to 80 meters. This giant mass of (Nacelle, hub and the blades) rotates 360-degree rotation, with special devices to track the movement of wind from all directions.

The turbine also has 800 electronic sensors in which they are considered to be interconnected minds to ensure a highly efficient workflow and the highest safety levels, they are able to work 24/7 and for 25 years without stop.

The power generated by this turbine can fully cover its manufacturing costs in three years of operation.

Checking and testing procedures were been applied from the very beginning and after each and every step of welding, painting and so on, in order to guarantee the accuracy of the work and perform it as per the highest international standards of wind turbine Industry.

A solution for any problem

Ms. Elias added: we faced a problem with transporting the turbine from the factory in the Industrial City of Hessia, to the site near Shin bridge due to the lack of local transport vehicles that are able to handle this large mass.

Our staff has assembled a special crawler crane with 650 Tons capacity, 1200 tons weight and 167 meters height that has been added to our heavy equipment; this crane is the one of its kind in Syria since it’s specialized for installing wind turbines with advanced technology.

One of the windiest places worldwide

As for choosing the site location, Ms. Elias explained that Homs gap is considered a very important mountain gap globally and it provides a very high rates of wind that ought to be put in use properly and with advanced ways. The studies went on for months to choose the best location, Homs gap is one of the windiest places worldwide and so is Qattinah Lake, Al Dhahabiyah and Jandar. And now, after installing the turbine and the trial month, and in less than a month, the wind turbine was able to provide more than 500 MW,  and its rotating range has been set within wind speed range minimum 4 m/s  and maximum 25 m/s .

Inside the production halls

Al Ouruba newspaper went inside the production halls and took a look over the process of manufacturing the wind turbine by the engineers and technicians whom achieved the first wind turbine and are finishing the final touches on the second one.

The production halls in the company are about 45 thousand square meters along with yards for collection and transporting about 25 thousand square meters.

And they confirmed that installing a wind turbine requires high-skill levels, special equipment, accurate thorough work and full commitment to high safety levels as per the international standards, where the smallest detail is important.

Manufacturing, Installing and operating

The company was established in 1966 and was called Syrian European Group for Heavy Industries. It’s specialized in many fields like renewable energies, oil drilling rigs, cement furnaces and gearboxes, and provide many services like lifting, transporting, studying and planning in renewable energies, quality control in manufacturing.

It’s the one and only company in MENA that’s specialized in manufacturing, installing and operating wind turbines with 100% Syrian staff.

Ms. Elias also referred that the infrastructure of the factory is completely prepared to handle massive loads, equipped with 10 km rails for the heavy trollies and carts transport, with load capacity 500 ton/m.

and as a precaution after the economic sanction imposed on our country, our staff is working on manufacturing wind turbines from A to Z, where 80% of the equipment are totally manufactured in our factory, and the other 20% is only some accessories and dynamic parts that are imported as per our own designs. Our factory has been ranked 12^th worldwide and has been awarded many international certificates like ISO, GL, DIN, VDE and others. It’s qualified to compete and export to all the countries of the world with the ability to manufacture a wind turbine in 10 days as per the productive potential plan. Where the first wind turbine has been erected and operated on 08/08/2019.

Saving up to a thousand billion,

Generating electricity from wind energy is highly important because renewable energy projects are considered eco-friendly. Each turbine can illuminate 3 to 5 thousand houses; and installing 1500 wind turbines saves up 700 to 1,000 billion Syrian pounds of the cost of fuel and gas annually, and provides electricity to more than 18 million people.

No difference or improvement in electricity will be observed after installing only one turbine, as we need 150 turbines to supply the city of Homs with its industrial areas.

Ms. Elias mentioned that government support is a need to make the procedures further facilitated so that we can properly utilize wind power in Homs gap.

Noting that the staff are in continuous pursuit to carry out the necessary studies and designs to achieve the strategy of supplying electrical network in a way that achieves a qualitative shift which improves the reality of the electricity, and we will work to localize this technology specifically in Homs, and from there we will go to all Syrian cities and neighboring countries.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Ms. Elias also pointed out that in spite of the war and challenges we’re facing, we’re still working to achieve our main goal, install large wind farms and support the heavy industry concept in Syria.

And here’s our first step going steadily and confidently, with the most cutting-edge technology and according to internationally registered patents for generating electricity in a clean, eco-friendly and permanent way.

Taking into consideration that effectively investing the wind energy of Homs gap only can lead to produce enough electricity to enlighten the Middle East, where this gap is 15 km width, 300 Km length and can accommodate 40,000 wind turbines.

We’re working hard to develop our factory and soon we’re going to start manufacturing wind turbines with higher capacity, up to 4.2 MW, in order to achieve the company’s goal in making large wind farms and provide electricity on permanent basis.

Al Ouruba Newspaper , Homs – Syria , 29-12-2019