Électricité du Liban (EDL) warned on Thursday that its remaining stock of fuel has dropped so severely that it has run out completely at some power plants.
The Jiyeh power plant and the two powerships “Fatmagül” and “Orhan Bey” have been forced to halt power production due to the depletion of their fuel supply, EDL said in a statement.
Fuel is also about to run out at power-generation facilities in Zouk and Jiyeh, which would ultimately lead to the forced suspension of their operations.
EDL said that it has no more options left to deal with this problem, “and it can no longer operate the remaining production groups in harmony with its remaining stocks of fuel and the quantities expected to be supplied under the exchange agreement with the Iraqi state, which alone are sufficient for a production capacity of up to 500 megawatts as a maximum.”
If the situation remains unchanged, Lebanon could plunge into total darkness by the end of September due to the complete depletion of all fuel reserves and the inability to maintain the grid’s stability under a production capacity of no more than 500 MW, EDL warned.
Lebanon is already experiencing daily blackouts that last many hours across different governorates, with some areas having been in the dark for nearly an entire month.
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