The current state of the energy sector in Lebanon is worrying. Daily power cuts coupled with Electricite du Liban (EDL)’s chronic budget deficit, which has contributed to more than half of Lebanon’s public debt, makes it clear why reforming the sector is a top priority for the international community, and why it cannot be separated…
Energy and climate change
Lebanon’s commitment to combating or mitigating climate change culminated in December 2015 when Lebanon became a signatory to the Paris Agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). Lebanon committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 percent by 2030 and up to 30 percent conditional upon the provision of international…
Wind farms in Lebanon
Earlier this spring, Lebanon signed its first-ever power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind energy with three separate consortiums that will build and operate wind farms in Akkar, in the north of the country. The energy ministry’s signing of the agreements represents Lebanon’s first PPA with the private sector in electricity generation as part of efforts…
Full of gas
Lebanon will finally be rescued from the electricity cuts it has long suffered from, or so says the government as it trumpets its latest plan for the sector. Eight years ago, Electricité du Liban (EDL) supplied, on average, only 18 hours of electricity per day, and an ambitious plan from 2010 did not accomplish much…
Outlook brightens for renewables
Renewables are the energy source of the future. Not too many years back it was hard to conceive that the sun’s rays could be harnessed into electricity – those what-will-the-future-look-like Laserdisc videos students were forced to watch when the substitute teacher covered 8th grade Life Science just didn’t seem that realistic. While planet earth may…