clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Lebanon energy minister says gas deal with Egypt will raise electricity supply

December 29, 2021 at 10:18 am

Minister of Energy and Water of Lebanon, Walid Fayad speaks during an exclusive interview in Beirut, Lebanon on 10 December 2021. [Houssam Shbaro – Anadolu Agency]

Lebanon’s Energy Minister Walid Fayad said his country’s gas agreement with Egypt will raise the electricity supply to between 8 and 12 hours a day, at a significantly lower cost.

On Tuesday, Minister Fayyad launched two projects to facilitate the flow of natural gas from Egypt to improve electricity production and expand the country’s tanks to increase oil reserves.

Speaking to reporters at the launching ceremony, he added that Egypt’s Technical Gas Services will begin renovation work on the Arab Gas Pipeline inside Lebanon within days and work should be complete in a little more than two months.

The pipeline has been out of service in Lebanon since before Syria’s 10-year conflict began in 2011.

Minister Fayyad said about 650 million cubic meters of gas will be brought to Lebanon through the pipeline annually to the Deir Ammar power station in the north, explaining that the amount will lead to the production of 450 megawatts of electricity adding three to four hours of electricity supplies a day.

In early September, the energy and oil ministers of Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Syria agreed on a “road map” to supply Lebanon with electricity and gas, to solve an energy crisis that has been crippling the country for months.

Under the agreement, Egypt has agreed to supply Lebanon with natural gas to its power plants through Jordan and Syria.

READ: Will Egypt’s gas to Lebanon end the East Med energy dispute?