- Lebanese government issues licences to eleven companies for solar power development.
- The projects will each have a 15-megawatt capacity.
The Lebanese government has approved licenses for eleven (11) companies to construct solar power plants capable of producing 15 megawatts each. According to a local news source, this announcement was made by the energy minister, Walid Fayyad on Thursday.
The minister noted that the companies, comprising both local and international firms, would have a year to secure funding. Lebanon has suffered chronic power outages since a 15-year civil war in 1990 ravaged the state’s electricity infrastructure and left many families relying on private generators.
Fayyad emphasised that the project construction would be a “good sign” to an international community that has been asking Lebanon to reform its energy sector. The sector has widened the country’s public debt by tens of billions of dollars. Solar production would cost between 3.6 and 5.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, Fayyad said, compared to the 10 to 15 cent cost of production via fuel.
The minister further noted that he would travel to neighbouring Syria on Sunday to iron out a deal to import Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity via Syria, in a project backed by the U.S. and with World Bank financing.