LEBANON – Minister of Energy and Water, Joe Saddi, during his inspection of the Kadisha Electricity Company building in the Bahsas area of Tripoli, leading an administrative and technical delegation from the ministry, stated that “the current power supply cannot exceed 8 to 10 hours per day at best, based on the available capacity of existing plants”.
He was received by the company’s director, Engineer Abdel Razzak Mouwas, and toured the departments and facilities, gaining a firsthand view of the work situation, the company’s needs, and the technical and administrative challenges it faces.
During the visit, the minister listened to a detailed explanation about the shortage of human resources, particularly in technological specialties, in addition to the difficulties related to billing, operations, and maintenance, amid the worsening electricity supply crisis in the city and the North in general.
The minister explained that “short-term solutions focus on improving billing, especially ensuring that state institutions pay their invoices, which allows the Electricity of Lebanon to secure the liquidity needed to purchase fuel and operate plants at maximum capacity”.
He added that “this path is the main entry point to improving supply hours within the current possibilities”.
For the long term, he revealed work on “two parallel tracks in cooperation with Gulf countries and international institutions, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, aiming to attract new investments in the electricity sector and strengthen production infrastructure”.
In this context, he highlighted that “one of the key proposed projects is the construction of a new gas-fired plant in Deir Ammar,” stressing that “it represents a crucial step to increase production capacity and improve supply stability in the North and Lebanon as a whole.”
In response to a question about the timeline for implementing these projects, Saddi said that “he prefers not to set deadlines before completing all procedures and ensuring actual readiness,” adding: “I will not make promises before confirming the full availability of execution conditions”.
