Jan 05 2011 |
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Bassil warns of summer energy crisis if no Cabinet action taken
05 January 2011
BEIRUT: Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil warned Tuesday of a grave electricity disaster this summer if no action is taken to overhaul this sector as soon as possible.
“We are heading for a big electricity disaster this summer if the plan I presented to the Cabinet is not implemented immediately,” Bassil told reporters during a news conference to disclose new details about his scheme to restructure the energy sector.
Lebanon has been experiencing severe electricity rationing, especially in the summer season, due to the limited capacities of the aging power plants.
None of the energy ministers who preceded Bassil were able to tackle the energy crisis despite the pledges of all previous governments to address the electricity crisis.
Lebanon’s maximum electricity output is less than 1,600 MW while the country’s need is greater than 2,300 MW.
Bassil presented an ambitious plan to the government last summer which involves the construction of a new gas-run electricity plant at a cost of $5 billion over the next four years.
The funding of this plan will come from the government, private sector and soft loans from donor states and commercial banks.
The minister said that he has already sent a short-term plan to the government to reduce the energy crisis in the immediate term. “My short term plan calls for the leasing of giant ships that generate electricity with a capacity of 250 MW. Or we can install small- to medium-size generators to secure the needs of the consumers over the next three years,” Bassil said.
He added that electricity bill collection has improved this year after Electricite du Liban started cutting off power to consumers, including some politicians, who failed to pay their energy bills. – The Daily Star
© Copyright The Daily Star 2011.
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