The Board of Directors of the Electricité du Liban announced in a statement that, "In light of the discussions circulating in both media and social media regarding the total interruption of electricity supply, an extraordinary session was held on Sunday, August 18, 2024, with the agreement of the board members considering its importance. The session was chaired by the Chairman of the Board and General Manager, Engineer Kamal Hayek. During this session, it was agreed to receive approximately 5,000 kiloliters of fuel from the Zahrani oil facilities as a loan based on the decision of the Minister of Energy and Water regarding this matter. Additionally, approval was granted to cover the cost of a shipment of gas oil to be purchased and supplied to Electricité du Liban through the Ministry of Energy and Water – General Directorate of Oil under the public bidding for the Spot Cargo contract, based on Cabinet Decision No. 49 dated August 14, 2024. All necessary legal, administrative, technical, and financial procedures have been taken to implement these decisions."
It was noted that "Electricité du Liban has been communicating urgently with all relevant parties since May 2024 to address any issues that might impact the continuity of energy production, which could lead to the forced shutdown of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants. It has sent letters to Minister of Energy and Water (with copies to the General Directorate of Oil): letter No. 2898 dated June 25, 2024, letter No. 3464 dated July 29, 2024, and to the General Directorate of Oil (with copies to the Minister of Energy and Water): letter No. 3197 dated July 16, 2024, letter No. 3463 dated July 29, 2024, letter No. 3516 dated July 31, 2024, letter No. 3541 dated August 5, 2024, letter No. 3595 dated August 13, 2024, without receiving any official response over the past two months until the issuance of Cabinet Decision No. 49 on August 14, 2024, followed by Minister of Energy and Water letter No. 135/ت/23 dated August 14, 2024. It should be noted that it was necessary to address the issues raised in the seven correspondence from the institution and respond to them in a timely manner. Despite a series of meetings held with various stakeholders over the past two months, assuring that obstacles regarding the supply of gas oil shipments have been overcome through the Iraqi swap agreement, all these meetings are documented."
The council added: "Electricité du Liban has continuously been taking precautionary measures to extend energy production for as long as possible, as indicated in its previous press statements, particularly those dated July 27, 2024, and August 7, 2024, in order to supply basic facilities in the Lebanese state, especially the airport, port, and water pumps with electricity for an additional 10 days. It is still essential to obtain information from the relevant parties regarding the status of supply shipments under the Iraqi swap agreement so that Electricité du Liban can organize and schedule its production policy accordingly. It is noted that the institution will implement Cabinet Decision No. 49 dated August 14, 2024, concerning the payment of installments of the cost of 430,000 tons of Iraqi fuel oil and contributing to settle part of the accumulated dues owed by the Lebanese state due to the execution of the Lebanese-Iraqi fuel oil supply agreement, with payments to be made through transferring collection funds in Lebanese pounds to the account of the Iraqi Central Bank, provided by the Ministry of Finance and public departments and independent institutions for electricity bills."
He added: "Finally, the institution will again restart the unit of the Zahrani plant that was forcibly taken out of service (approximately 150 MW thermal), in conjunction with the stock that will be available to it after receiving quantities of diesel oil from the oil facilities, prioritizing feeding at present to vital basic facilities in Lebanon (airport, port, water pumps, etc.), and then after receiving additional quantities of gas oil, it will gradually restore electricity supply to what it was. Accordingly, Electricité du Liban will keep all citizens informed of any updates regarding electricity supply through subsequent statements in this regard."
