Lebanon experienced a significant power outage on Wednesday, attributed to the operational disruptions of two major power plants. A source from the state-owned power company, Electricite du Liban, informed a TASS correspondent about the situation. Reportedly, both the thermal power plant in Deir Ammar, located in the northern region of Lebanon, and the thermal power plant in Deir Ez Zahrani, situated in the southern part of the country, were compelled to halt their turbine operations due to debts owed to their respective operators.
"The state-owned company declared a state of emergency blackout for the entire energy system on Wednesday evening," - the source elaborated. - "Acting Minister of Energy and Water Resources Selim Fayyad is taking urgent measures to settle the government's outstanding debts to Primesouth, the private operator of the two thermal power plants."
A similar situation occurred in Lebanon in early January as well. During that time, authorities mobilized funds and cleared debts within a week to avert a complete blackout across the country. Priority power supply was maintained for essential facilities such as water pumps, sewage systems, Rafic Hariri International Airport, the seaport, Lebanese State University, and several hospitals.
The source indicated that Primesouth opted to halt the turbine operations at 5:00 p.m. local time (equivalent to Moscow time) after receiving only $2 million out of the $83 million owed by the government.
Earlier in the summer months, due to fuel supply issues, Electricite du Liban curtailed electricity provision to the population to around 2–4 hours daily. For the remaining time, households and institutions were reliant on regional power generators operated by private companies.
The crisis situation was further exacerbated by the discontinuation of state subsidies for fuels and lubricants, owing to the diminishing foreign currency reserves. This led to a surge in the prices of gasoline and fuel oil.
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Based on materials from TASS