Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis in the News

News agencies and international organizations have reported on the growing electricity crisis in Lebanon including Reuters, BBC, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch, Business Insider, Forbes, and others.

In the media

“The blackouts are not just a nuisance. For many they are a matter of life or death. The parents of a 9-month-old sick baby who gets his medication through an electrical device took him to an electricity company in north Lebanon asking that staff connect the machine there, as they had no power at home.”

— Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch

“‘Overhaul the energy sector to counter the electricity shortages that affect the Lebanese people today.’ It was a point French President Emmanuel Macron made repeatedly during his one-day visit to Beirut.”

— Tom Perry, Ellen Francis, Reuters

“Jan Kubis, U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, said that without reforming the electricity sector through ‘immediate, tangible and technically and economically sound measures, Lebanon cannot stop the deepening economic and social collapse (and) the Lebanese are doomed to increasing misery, that they cannot and will not tolerate.’”

— Tom Perry, Ellen Francis, Reuters

Video reports

Lebanon faces record power cuts as economy worsens; July 22, 2020

Lebanon protests over lack of electricity; Nov. 16, 2019

Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis; Oct. 9, 2019

Special Reports

“As shown in Figure 1 the percentage of electricity demand unmet by EDL in Lebanon has increased from 22% in 2008 to 37% in 2018. In a “Business-As-Usual” scenario, in which demand would continue to grow and no generation capacity would be added and in which the Jiyeh and Zouk power generation units would be retired in 2022, the supply-demand deficit is expected to grow to 56% by 2025.”

- Ahmad A., ESMAP. 2020. “Distributed Power Generation for Lebanon: Market Assessment and Policy Pathways. (May), World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.

Read report here.

More from the World Bank report:

“The gap between the power supplied by EDL and demand is covered by expensive, polluting and noisy diesel generators that are dispersed almost everywhere in the country. These generators are often located in the basements of buildings, parking lots and alleyways near residential units. Because of their typically short stack and low maintenance frequency, these generators’ emissions are negatively impacting public health.”

”Table 13 summarizes the potential benefits that can be achieved through scaling-up distributed solar PV systems in Lebanon. Distributed systems can lower (or defer) investments in expensive grid upgrades. Additionally, they can reduce the need for installing expensive peaking capacity, which only runs during periods of peak demand.”

“Figure 13 plots the yearly (normalized) variations of solar irradiation and electricity consumption, based on real data collected on 2200 buildings in Beirut City. Both profiles overlap nicely with maximum demand in summer months coincides with maximum irradiation in the same period.”

“Linked directly to Lebanon’s lengthy bureaucratic (and often political) delays associated with utility-scale projects that require government intervention, the decentralized implementation and short lead time required for small-scale distributed systems to be installed and operate is a major incentive. This is primarily due to the lower levels of decision-making processes associated with individuals, firms, and municipal authorities.”

“ … given Lebanon’s existing energy crisis, the public is thirsty for affordable solutions that can fill in the supply-demand gap.”

“For efforts to scale up distributed renewable energy in Lebanon to be successful, a smart communication strategy with a focus on generating awareness is needed to inform and engage the public. Such a strategy could drive a positive change in social attitudes in support of more unfamiliar, communally-based electricity provision.“

Additional Resources

“There are no major ownership and market access restrictions in the energy sector. However, EDL has a monopoly on the market, controlling approximately 90 per cent of the electricity generating capacity in Lebanon.”
- Abou Jaoude, C., Machnouk, S., El Housseini, H., Kateb, R., Stephan, C., (2020). Lebanon. D. L. Schwartz (Ed.), The Energy Regulation and Markets Review. (Edition 9, pp.151-162), Tom Barnes - Law Business Research Ltd., https://thelawreviews.co.uk/edition/the-energy-regulation-and-markets-review-edition-9/1228300/lebanon
“Lebanon’s power sector has not only been a heavy contributor to the public debt; it has also been detrimental to businesses and, subsequently, the economy. The high reliance on expensive diesel generators reduces business competitiveness on the regional and international levels.”
- Obeid J., “Power sector reforms, Salvaging Lebanon: Expert Opinions on a Way out of the Crisis,” www.arab-reform.net, https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/salvaging-lebanon-expert-opinions-on-a-way-out-of-the-crisis/, Accessed 14 December 2020
“A 2019 survey asked Lebanese people “What is the biggest problem facing Lebanon today?”, with the top three answers being electricity (24%), corruption (14%), and the economy (12%). The three areas are linked: grand corruption in the electricity sector has bled public finances since the 1990s – the World Bank estimates that more than half of all of Lebanon’s huge accumulated debt results from losses in the sector. In turn, this has starved other sectors of resources needed to tackle healthcare, education, and rapidly escalating poverty.”
-Ahmad, A., Al-Masri, M., McCulloch, N., Ayoub, M., “Beirut blast: Restoring power is important, as is trust,“ www.theigc.org, www.theigc.org/blog/beirut-blast-restoring-power-is-important-as-is-trust/ , Accessed 20 December 2020