Report: Lebanon's Electricity File on Front Burner

The cabinet will convene on Monday to address Lebanon's 2017 draft budget plan, amid reports that it will also dwell on the electricity file following a new project presented by Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil, the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily reported.

The project under the title “Power Saving Plan” does not take into consideration an earlier request of the Lebanese Forces party to privatize the sector, “but bears a resemblance to a former plan put by Abi Khalil's predecessor (Jebran Bassil) that decided to hire two Turkish power generating vessels under the pretext of overcoming part of the shortage,” said the daily.

Ministerial sources said Abi Khali has no intention of introducing any amendments to Bassil's plan, and that he will suggest the cabinet approves renting three Turkish ships instead of two.

The estimated cost of chartering the ships costs Lebanon's treasury LBP 864 trillion, adding to the cost of providing fuel for the operation of these vessels, in addition to the cost of purchasing electricity from a company that generates solar energy, it added.

Abi Khalil reportedly insists on the decision to lease the Turkish vessels before June, “under the pretext for a need to improve electricity supply before the summer season as Lebanon prepares to receive about 1.5 million tourists and a large number of Lebanese who wish to spend the summer vacation in their country, adding to the shortage in supply as the result of the presence of a large number of displaced Syrians,” said the daily.

The parliamentary blocs represented in the cabinet have started, since Sunday, studying the plan's details, said al-Hayat.