Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad visited the new power generation station in the city of Baniyas, Syria, which is in its final stages of construction, state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

The power station is set to become operational in the coming weeks with an initial capacity to generate  24 megawatts of electricity, which is later expected to increase to 56 megawatts.

During the visit, President Al-Assad also inspected the newly established Syrian company which produces solar panels in Latakia. The company has developed advanced production lines for manufacturing the necessary components for solar energy systems.

He emphasized that any increase, no matter how small, in electricity production would have a positive impact, as Syria struggles with finding energy sources due to severe Western sanctions, the looting of its oil by the US military, and the ails of a war that destroyed its infrastructure.

He also highlighted the crucial importance of solar energy, both for providing a new source of energy for power stations on a large scale and for households on a small scale.

The Syrian President also visited areas in the countryside of Latakia, where he assessed the damage caused by recent multiple wildfires in the region.

The Mediterranean region as a whole has experienced hot dry winds and record temperatures for the past few weeks, which have caused fires similar to the one experienced in Latakia. 

The steep terrains coupled with strong winds in the Syrian province expanded the fire as it became uncontrollable, prompting firefighting brigades from other provinces to come to the aid of their colleagues in order to contain the flames.

To add to their troubles, firefighters had to navigate through landmines planted by terrorist organizations prior to the liberation of the province, as several mines popped up due to the scorching flames.

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