The following statement was issued by Electricite du Liban: "In reference to both the statement of Electricite du Liban dated 03/08/2022, and its letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Finance through His Excellency the Minister of Energy and Water number 2726 dated 03/08/2022, as the remaining electrical energy produced is generated solely from the Zahrani plant, which is the only plant left on the grid, due to the depletion of energy at the Deir Ammar plant of gas oil, and since no shipment of gas oil was provided under the exchange agreement between the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Lebanon for August 2022 for Electricite du Liban through the Ministry of Energy and Water - Directorate General of Oil, and the institution has not yet been informed whether a shipment of gas oil will be supplied to it during September 2022, knowing that the production of electrical energy from Electricite du Liban's plants has recently relied only on that agreement."
It added: "As of this date, the actual date of the arrival of electricity from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is still uncertain, and the actual date for the start of importing natural gas from the Arab Republic of Egypt is also pending, waiting for the necessary funding for these two projects to be secured by the relevant authorities. Given that the Zahrani plant's stock of gas oil has reached its lowest limit and is near depletion, and in light of this sensitive and critical situation that is entirely beyond the control and responsibility of Electricite du Liban, Electricite du Liban announces that the Zahrani plant will be forcibly taken out of service after noon on Friday, 26/08/2022 due to the depletion of its gas oil stock, which will lead to a halt in electricity production throughout Lebanon, with the plants being restarted as soon as the institution is supplied with fuel at the earliest opportunity."
