Qatar on Friday announced plans to invest in Lebanon’s electricity sector and help address the country’s chronic power crisis, including through the development of a solar power plant.
During his visit to Lebanon, where he met with President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the two sides held "lengthy discussions" on an energy project that Doha had been discussing with Beirut for years.
"Now, thank God, we see this project getting closer to becoming a reality," he said.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Salam at the Grand Serail, Al Thani said the two countries had agreed to establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation in the energy sector and provide integrated solutions through a major investment project that would benefit Lebanon’s economy.
Salam said Lebanon and Qatar were close to reaching an agreement on a joint project to rehabilitate, develop and modernise the country’s electricity generation infrastructure.
He said the comprehensive project would cover various sources of energy production and the infrastructure required to support them, with the aim of providing a more reliable electricity supply at a lower cost.
Salam said the project would follow a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, under which Qatari entities would finance, build and operate the infrastructure before transferring it to the Lebanese state. He stressed that Lebanon’s treasury would bear no upfront investment costs.
He said he hoped to present the project to the Lebanese cabinet soon, adding that it should be prepared with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and adhere to the highest standards of transparency, governance and financial viability.
Salam said the aim was not to add another promise to the many previously made about the electricity sector, but to establish a sustainable solution by increasing generation, lowering costs, diversifying energy sources and improving management.
Al Thani also said QatarEnergy had agreed with TotalEnergies to jointly develop a solar power plant in Lebanon. He described this as an initial project, saying the two countries were now working towards a broader framework for energy cooperation.
He said Qatar hoped to see an agreement take shape soon, allowing Qatari institutions to work alongside their Lebanese counterparts.
Salam said his government did not want to add "another promise to the many that the Lebanese have heard" about the electricity sector, but instead hoped to establish the foundations for a practical and sustainable solution based on increasing generation, lowering costs, diversifying energy sources and improving management.
"Reliable electricity at an affordable cost is essential to reviving the economy, encouraging investment, restarting productive businesses and easing the burden on citizens," he said.
Lebanon’s Energy Minister Joe Saddi recently announced that he would no longer take part in cabinet sessions, citing what he called a lack of seriousness in dealing with the crisis and saying he refused to be held responsible for the lack of progress in the sector.
Saddi and fellow ministers from the Lebanese Forces party walked out of a cabinet session on Thursday over the issue.
Years of blackouts
Lebanon has suffered a decades-long electricity crisis which saw the emergence of an unofficial and largely unregulated network of private generators across the country. These generators typically run on fuel oil, contributing significantly to poor air quality in cities, while charging consumers high prices.
The energy sector virtually collapsed following Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse, with the national grid barely keeping the lights on for two hours a day. Before this, Beirut, where many of Lebanon’s government institutions are located, had up to 20 hours of electricity a day, with rotating blackouts in the rest of the country.
Much of Lebanon has gradually moved to renewable energy alternatives, relying on solar panels to manage their electricity needs, although this option remains somewhat limited in larger cities like Beirut due to restricted rooftop space in residential buildings.
There has been an outcry among generator subscribers this year, with bills reaching hundreds of US dollars a month in some areas. Operators, many of whom control supply in particular neighbourhoods and are linked to sectarian political parties, have attributed rising costs to higher global fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war.
Lebanon’s electricity sector is estimated to have cost the country more than $40 billion since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, largely because of heavy subsidies and the cost of importing fuel for ageing power stations. These costs account for a substantial share of the treasury’s losses.