Lebanon prepares for Algerian gas amid investigation into electricity crisis

The electricity crisis continues Lebanon Continuing, waiting for the arrival of the Algerian fuel, while there are doubts about the quality of the Algerian fuel, as it may not be suitable for the operation of the Lebanese electricity plants.

The Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad explained this issue in a television interview, where he believed that the quality of Algerian fuel is different from that used in Lebanon, so it is expected that it will be sent in place through a swap process, as is the case with Iraqi fuel, but that depends on the results of the tests that the shipment will be subjected to when it arrives in Lebanon.

The ship Enker left the port of Skikda Algerian To ship and send 30 thousand tons of fuel to Lebanon, in implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who ordered that the necessary quantities of fuel be taken to Lebanon to operate and restore electrical stations. electricity Electric current In the country.”

At the same time, investigations about the electricity crisis in Lebanon were launched after the official letter sent by the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the Central Investigation Authority, until the Public Prosecutor of Cassation, Judge Jamal Al- heard Hajjar, the Minister’s testimony on Wednesday. of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Electricity Corporation, Kamal Hayek, As long as the hearings are repeated to include other parties with the aim of determining responsibility for the darkness complete that hit the country last Saturday. .

Electricity was cut off across Lebanon last Saturday, including the airport, the capital’s port, Beirut, prisons, sanitation facilities, and drinking water pumping, after the last set of production units in the Zahrani plant to go out of service due to the exhaustion of the fuel that operated it, which led to the cessation of the electricity supply Completely, until Algeria announced on Sunday afternoon the initiative to oil to give to Lebanon and then help him overcome the crisis, noting that there was a previous unsuccessful experience with the Algerian “Sonatrach. ” the company reached the judges.

Research on the electricity crisis

A judicial source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, “Investigations of the total power outage will be completed to the end, to determine the responsibilities and reasons that led to Saturday’s crisis,” indicating that “the hearing sessions with Hayek and Fayyad ended well, and each person provided their own documents and information, while investigations will be completed in subsequent sessions.”

Mikati said in his book that “there was negligence in not calling the Board of Directors of the Electricité du Liban Corporation, which led to a crisis that could have been avoided, which required those who was responsible for holding him accountable to prevent him from coming back after the government. he put the issue of electricity among the priorities of his emergency plan,” indicating that the administration of the institution did not meet due to the absence of the Director General. Instead, he cut communication with everyone and did not delegate powers to him any of the council members, especially financial ones.

The electricity crisis in Lebanon rears its head from time to time, plunging state facilities, administrations, and public institutions to a large extent into total darkness, despite the emergency plan put together by the Ministry of Energy , and as a result the fees were increased several times, which is financially. tired of the citizens, who at the same time give a very high bill for generators.

Ghassan Baydoun, former Director General of Investments at the Ministry of Energy and Water, and an expert at the Lebanese Institute of Market Studies, said in his interview with Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that “the Algerian initiative is appreciated, while” in which equipment to provide fuel must be developed and protected from corruption to protect the source of fuel that is required for operational electrical plants sets There is a high percentage of waste in the electricity produced by the group and putting on the grid, which currently amounts to at least 58%, according to the group’s admission, and which is likely to be higher, and this is the result of the illegal of energy.”

He believes that “if these conditions are met, the government must reconsider the current price, so that Algerian oil does not become a cover for continuous waste, looting and corruption, from which energy thieves benefit at the expense of the committed citizen. receives electricity through its standard meter, and we should not forget that the owners of generators are among those who benefit and the economy in its various sectors at a cost free from waste and corruption, and that was not the reason.

Baydoun emphasizes that “Lebanon must benefit from the opportunity of the Algerian offer and consolidate the agreement with Iraq based on past experiences, problems, mistakes, and loopholes that could have allowed the corruption of the Sonatrach contract and to introduce the Iraq Oil Agreement, to ensure a safe, stable and reliable source of fuel, and that.

He says “the crisis will continue as long as the same people and the same thinking rule the ministry, and the same approach affects the government, which makes decisions against reason, truth and reality and not looking at specific and correct information. , and not asking for data or financial reports that clearly show the status of the institution and the results of the implementation of the tax increase.” Which failed miserably, especially on a financial level.”

High tax

Baydoun says that “currently the state’s financial resources are the state’s finances, and there was an agreement that the government would confirm the price of Iraqi oil with the Bank of Lebanon, which does not accept to cover the price of Iraqi fuel or pound a to be paid at the expense of the Lebanese state.” Without a law issued by the House of Representatives, therefore, the commitment of the government to pay the price, Iraq’s oil today does not concern the Central Bank.”

In this context, Khaled Abu Chakra, a researcher at the Lebanese Institute of Market Studies, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that “several reasons have contributed to the continuation of the electricity crisis despite the increase of the tariff more than 160 times, the most important of which is that the level of waste in Lebanese electricity reaches 50%. bills, and theft, as well as the fact that accounts from service provider companies, of which there are four, are late in many areas for a year.”

Another reason is that “the energy emergency plan prepared by the Ministry of Energy and Water requires, among its provisions, that the Lebanese state pay approximately $200 million for public institutions and administrations that consume electricity, and it is considered that this number is large, and the state has not succeeded in implementing this obligation. “

Abu Chakra said: “1% of electricity subscribers, meaning about 25 to 30 thousand subscribers, decided to cancel their subscriptions permanently, and this number is large, so About a third of the people of Lebanon produce their own electricity with solar energy, as evidenced by an installation with a capacity of one thousand megawatts out of Lebanon’s need of between 3,500 and 4,000 megawatts, meaning that many people will not consuming electricity. “

Regarding the plan to import electricity from Jordan and gas from Egypt, Abu Chakra says, “The importance of the proposal is that gas will be considered cheaper than the fuel oil that Lebanon will including, and that it is environmentally friendly and less polluting, and it is possible, and the proposal also includes that we import electricity from Jordan at about 250 to 300 megawatts, but both solutions were faced with the Caesar Act and the fear of Jordan and Egypt that they would be exposed to American sanctions, noting that the legal period for the validity of the law has expired, but not The United States has not announced that the ban has been lifted. “