First Power-Generating Vessel to Arrive in April after Long Delay
Lebanon met the required costs to Turkish power company Karadeniz after a long delay, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday, pointing out that the first power-generating vessel is expected to arrive in April.
According to the daily, the Finance Ministry transferred the money to Electricite du Liban on November 7, which in turn transferred the cost of acquiring the two ships to the Turkish company on Wednesday after procedures with the Central Bank ended.
The newspaper said that the second ship would arrive in June.
Energy Minister Jebran Bassil announced in November that the arrival of the power-generating ships to Lebanon from Turkey has been delayed after the government failed to provide the costs.
The minister had signed in July a three-year contract to lease the vessels from Karadeniz company.
The first ship was expected to arrive in Lebanon on November 11.
The cabinet had agreed in March to lease power-generating vessels that would help provide 700 megawatts of electricity for a period of three years.
Lebanon has long suffered from electricity outages because of shortages at its power plants whose maximum capacity is less than 1,500 megawatts but the country’s actual need exceeds 2,300 megawatts.
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