Algeria announced, on Sunday, that it will immediately supply Lebanon with quantities of fuel to operate power stations and restore electricity in the country.
Algerian Radio said in a statement: “Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui made a phone call today with the Prime Minister of the sisterly Lebanese Republic, Mr. Najib Mikati, to inform him of the decision issued by the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to stand by brotherly Lebanon in these difficult circumstances by immediately supplying brotherly Lebanon with quantities of fuel in order to operate power generation stations and restore electricity in the country.”
The mechanism for implementing this Algerian announcement or the time it will take was not immediately clear.
The Minister of Energy and Water in the caretaker government, Walid Fayyad, confirmed on Sunday that “before midnight, the Zahrani plant will be restarted, with a low capacity that may reach 150 megawatts, after it was supplied with about 2,000 tons of diesel from Zahrani facilities as a first stage, and it will be supplied with another 2,000 tons in the coming few days.”
Fayyad pointed out that this measure allows for the stability of the network and the supply of vital facilities with electricity, most notably the airport, for a week, in the hope that the Board of Directors of the Electricité du Liban will make a decision regarding securing additional quantities of gas oil.
Lebanon witnessed a complete power outage across the country on Saturday, after the state-run electricity company said its gas oil stock had run out, according to Bloomberg.
Lebanon has been facing its worst financial collapse in decades since late 2019. The government has defaulted on its international debt and failed to take the necessary measures to secure foreign support.
The cash-strapped Mediterranean country has been implementing severe energy rationing for decades as political wrangling has stalled plans to reform the electricity sector, but outages have worsened during the current financial crisis, the agency said.
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2024-08-20 10:28:26