The Electricité du Liban announced in a new statement that "after it was informally notified by the Central Bank of Lebanon this evening about the disbursement of the dues to the operator of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants in hard currency (Fresh Dollar), which the institution previously sent to him and was approved by the Ministry of Finance, Electricité du Liban immediately requested the operator to resume operation at the Zahrani plant according to the pre-prepared production plan, in order to maintain the lowest possible continuity of energy production for the longest possible period, especially during the Eid al-Adha holiday, while continuing to supply the essential vital facilities in the country (airport, port, water pumps, sewage, essential state facilities...)."
Information from "Al Jadeed" indicated that "the Zahrani plant will resume operation after the Central Bank transferred the dues to the operating company," noting that "the technical team is currently working to operate the plant after its suspension."
The operator company of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants, Primesouth, stated to "Al Jadeed" after the resumption of the Zahrani plant that "the problem has been partially resolved," following a previous statement from Electricité du Liban, which reported that "the operator of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants, under letter number PSHQ/EDL/LTR/06072022/384 dated 07/06/2022, announced that it would stop its operations due to not receiving its dues in hard currency (Fresh Dollar), according to Cabinet Decisions No. 12 dated 14/04/2022 and No. 171 dated 20/05/2022 issued in this regard, which would lead to the Zahrani plant, currently the only thermal plant producing electricity on the grid, stopping its energy production at 5 PM on Wednesday, 07/06/2022. It is worth noting that Electricité du Liban completed all administrative procedures and referred its payments according to the Cabinet Decisions to be paid about a month ago; however, to date, they have not been disbursed by the relevant financial and monetary authorities in the country."
The statement added: "It is also worth mentioning that the aforementioned Cabinet Decisions have only allocated Electricité du Liban a total of 60 million dollars since the beginning of 2022 for all the institution's contractors, knowing that this allocated amount is insufficient for the volume of work required to be carried out at the minimum possible for running the public facility.
In light of this situation, which is entirely beyond the authority and responsibility of Electricité du Liban, the failure to disburse the specified amounts in hard currency (Fresh Dollar) to the contractor according to the Cabinet Decisions will lead to the operator stopping the operations of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants without the possibility of reintroducing them to the grid. This will force a total and comprehensive blackout across all Lebanese territory, which will, in turn, lead to a forced halt in the supply to all essential vital facilities in the country (airport, port, water pumps, sewage, essential state facilities)."
Electricité du Liban emphasized that "it had put in place a production plan and taken a series of precautionary measures, previously announced in its earlier statements, in order to maintain the minimum continuity of energy production for the longest possible period, especially during the Eid al-Adha holiday; however, this new problem is beyond its capacity and authority to manage, and thus it cannot be resolved, even temporarily, except by implementing the Cabinet Decisions in this regard by the relevant financial and monetary authorities in the country."
