Energy Minister in the caretaker government Walid Fiadd confirmed to LBCI that, just before midnight, the Zahrani plant will restart at a low capacity of about 150 megawatts after being supplied with approximately 2000 tons of diesel from the Zahrani facilities as a first phase, with another 2000 tons expected in the coming days. Fiadd pointed out that this measure will stabilize the grid and provide electricity to vital facilities, notably the airport, for a week, hoping that the Board of Directors of Electricité du Liban will decide on securing additional amounts of gas oil.
Meanwhile, the Director of Oil Installations in Zahrani, Ziad Zain, confirmed that pumping began at 3 AM, delivering 5 million liters from the facilities to the Zahrani power plant on a loan basis, through the connecting pipeline, after completing all administrative, technical, and legal files. He expected that after the meeting of the Board of Directors of Electricité du Liban today, a decision and statement regarding the timeline for restarting the plant will be announced, which will initially only supply vital facilities. The decision was made after a series of communications extending until dawn.
In a related context, the General Director of the National Authority for the Litani River Samy Aloui stated via "Al-Jadeed" that production from hydroelectric plants has begun to increase, noting that "the temporary solution to be issued by the Board of Directors of Electricité du Liban is to borrow quantities of fuel from the army." Aloui clarified that "the solution to achieve regularity in the electricity sector is to attain financial independence for Electricité du Liban."
MTV reported that "the 5,000 tons of fuel that Electricité du Liban received to secure a minimum level of electricity for public facilities are from the Lebanese army's stock and require 24 hours before use in production plants." Al-Jadeed reported an "ongoing meeting for the Board of Directors of Electricité du Liban today in which Karim Saba will participate." The same information indicated that Chairman of the Board of Directors of Electricité du Liban Kamal Hayek cut his vacation in Greece short and returned to Lebanon to head the board meeting. The same sources noted that "the meeting will approve the transfer of 5,000 liters of fuel from the Zahrani plant on a borrowing basis to secure a partial return of electricity until Chairman Kamal Hayek returns from Greece on Monday to take the legal measures and approve the purchase of fuel from Iraq and Egypt."
