Despite the positive atmosphere established by the announcement of Iraq's agreement to extend fuel supply to Lebanon for a year, no Iraqi fuel-laden ship has departed towards Lebanon yet. Will the power plants entirely shut down by the end of the week? In a few days, Lebanon may experience a total blackout. While the Lebanese have managed to cope with the ongoing power cuts in their homes, the repercussions will especially be felt in public facilities that still receive electricity, albeit for a few hours, such as the Port of Beirut, the airport, some public administrations, and water and sewage pumping stations, among other essential state facilities.
The Lebanon Electricity Corporation had previously announced in a statement on August 3 that it would take precautionary measures to extend the use of the remaining fuel it has, setting August 25 as the final deadline for stopping electricity production and facing dire consequences if no shipments of gas oil were delivered to the corporation during August. In reality, aside from the announcement regarding the agreement to extend the contract with Iraq for fuel supply, there has been no update on the dispatch of any shipment specifically for Lebanon. This indicates that Lebanon will inevitably face difficulties unless the Iraqi side announces otherwise, considering that any shipment declared by Iraq to be sent to Lebanon will take more than a week to arrive. It is also unclear whether Iraq intends to complete the delivery of the remaining share of the agreement from last year, estimated at about 185,000 metric tons, or if it will consider the new shipment it sends as part of the new million-ton quantity it promised to send gradually over the next year.
In this context, sources following the matter revealed to "Al-Jumhuriya" that, with the precautionary measures taken by the Lebanon Electricity Corporation, it is expected that the power plants will shut down starting next Saturday evening instead of today. The corporation has recently adopted a total blackout policy, gaining two additional days before a complete blackout occurs. The sources also disclosed the possibility of using the fuel available in the old Zouk and Jiyeh plants; however, two issues arise in this context: the first is that the operating company has stopped maintaining the plants since the end of February due to Lebanon's inability to pay its dues in fresh dollars, and the second involves the problem regarding the specifications of the last fuel shipment received, which the operating company considered non-compliant with the specifications contrary to the laboratory results.
The sources indicated that operating the Zouk and Jiyeh plants could potentially extend electricity supply to Lebanon for an additional month while awaiting clarity regarding the Iraqi fuel situation. However, the decision to proceed with this step requires approval from the Ministry of Energy and Water, while sources in the ministry confirm that these are purely operational matters decided by the electricity administration. Regarding Iraqi fuel, sources indicate that Iraq has informed the relevant parties of its intention to secure the remaining share of fuel for Lebanon from last year’s agreement, estimated at around 200,000 tons, and that Lebanon would then begin receiving the agreed quantity for this year, namely a million tons. However, Lebanon has not yet been informed of the arrival date of any fuel shipment from Iraq.
