The unloading process of the four fuel oil ships currently in the waters is still awaiting their "release" to empty their cargo into the reservoirs of the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants, despite the caretaker government approving a treasury advance of $62 million. The current delay is due to the lack of release of the Letter of Credit, which the Minister of Finance is supposed to request from the Central Bank of Lebanon to ensure the supplier, Vitol, is guaranteed its rights with the state; as of yesterday, this has not occurred.
Caretaker Minister of Energy Walid Fayad confirmed to "Nidaa Al-Watan" that "once that letter is obtained, the two gas oil ships will commence unloading, and citizens will start to feel an increase in electricity supply within two days, after which a letter of credit will be issued to unload fuel oil ships A and B." If the Central Bank of Lebanon issues this letter today, Fayad stated, "we will notice this improvement in supply by the end of the week, as it could increase from roughly one additional hour to two hours on average over a month, then to three hours, reaching four or five hours between May and June. This will be achieved by increasing between 300 megawatt-hours as a minimum and 600 megawatts as a maximum."
Regarding the two associated with fuel oils A and B, he mentioned, "the approval was linked last week to a meeting of the ministerial committee concerned with the electricity file, so I hastened to request a meeting of the committee which was set for today (yesterday), and approval was granted."
The ministerial committee also approved the proposals submitted by the Electricité du Liban (EDL) and the Ministry of Energy and Water, particularly regarding providing EDL with a treasury advance of $42 million to allow for the unloading of the fuel-laden ships, provided that its stock is not used except under a clear and explicit decision issued by the committee. During the meeting, the Minister of Energy and Water was also requested to negotiate with the supplier to waive any late payment penalties.
The attendees agreed to hold a second committee meeting before February 10 to assess the success indicators of the plan and to follow up on its implementation. As for the penalties incurred by the state due to the ships being anchored in the waters and delaying their unloading, which have now exceeded one million dollars, Fayad mentioned, "the penalties will not be paid today if requested, and he will negotiate with the company after they send invoices for this, which will take time," considering that "the bigger problem is not the penalties today but the ability to bring in the ships to increase supply."
He noted that "electricity supply will increase alongside works to 'clean' the regional outlets progressively, as there are 800 outlets, meaning the removal of infringements by distribution companies, which are also awaiting the funds approved for them to intensify their work with security support from the ministries of Interior, Defense, and Justice."
Regarding the reasons for subjecting the materials on the ships to further testing, Fayad stated, "they were tested previously and found to meet the required specifications. However, the new operator of the Zouk and Jiyeh power plants, MEP, is keen on the fuel composition, so another test will be conducted on the B-grade gas oil due to the ship being anchored for weeks in the waters since the first test."
