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Lebanon deprived of power "for several days" because of fuel shortage

2021-10-09T18:46:01.907Z


Pending deliveries of fuel oil, the country is facing a second general power cut since midday Saturday.


The stress of French families having their loved ones in Lebanon has risen a notch as the country continues to sink into the crisis.

This Saturday, Lebanon found itself plunged into darkness after a power cut.

"The country's power plants are no longer producing electricity after fuel shortages forced its two largest power plants to close," a government source told Reuters news agency.

"The Lebanese electricity grid completely stopped working at midday today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days," said the same source.

After the shutdown of the Deir Ammar plant on Friday, it is the Zahrani power station which no longer produces as announced, via a statement, the national electricity company.

The shutdown of these two power plants no longer allows the network to supply the inhabitants in a stable manner.

It was then decided to bring about the complete shutdown of the distribution network.

"The national electricity company will try to use the army's fuel reserves to temporarily run power plants, but that will not happen anytime soon," the government official told Reuters.

No resumption before Monday ... or even later

Stuck in an unprecedented crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the history of the world since 1850, the country has experienced draconian power rationing for months - 22 hours a day without electricity - and struggles to import fuel , against the backdrop of a historic tumble in the national currency and a drying up of foreign currencies.

Private generator suppliers, who often take over, are also rationing businesses, hospitals and homes as fuel becomes scarce.

This is the second blackout since the start of the month.

For the first, the network was reestablished a few days later.

In its statement, the national electricity company said that an oil tanker was to arrive on Saturday evening and be unloaded early next week.

"It is unlikely that the electricity grid can be put back into operation until next Monday," a Lebanese official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi oil for medical services

Formed in September after 13 months of political wrangling, the new government is committed to initiating reforms in the electricity sector and gradually restoring public power.

Lebanon is negotiating with Egypt and Jordan for the delivery of gas and electricity via Syria, while the Shiite movement Hezbollah has announced in recent weeks several deliveries of Iranian fuel oil to alleviate serious power and fuel shortages.

An agreement was also reached between the authorities and Iraq for the distribution of Iraqi oil to Lebanon in return for medical services.

Read also Lebanon finally gets a new government, after 13 months of waiting

Lebanon is not alone in facing these difficulties.

New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday warned of a looming power crisis in the Indian capital, believing that some of the city's main coal-fired power plants have barely a day left. of stock.

Several states in eastern and southern India have been hit by shortages, forcing public providers to unexpected power cuts.

The shortage in India, the world's second largest consumer of coal, follows widespread power outages in China, which have caused plant closures and severely affected production and supply channels around the world.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2021-10-09

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