Walid Fayad speaks with Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace. (Credit: @LBpresidency)
BEIRUT — Resolving the electricity crisis and averting an impending blackout at state power supplier Electrcité due Liban topped the agenda during a meeting on Friday between Michel Aoun and Energy Minister Walid Fayad.
Here’s what we know:
• Aoun and Fayad discussed “the situation of EDL, the obstacles to the production of electricity and the ways to find solutions,” the presidency’s press office said in a statement after the meeting, adding that the pair also discussed fuel shortages, particularly the lack of gasoline and diesel available in the market.
• The meeting comes a day after EDL warned that a nationwide blackout may become a reality by the end of September. In making its announcement, EDL said remaining fuel stocks have plummeted, with those of the Jiyeh power plant and the two Turkish power barges being particularly hard-hit.
• A ship carrying 31,000 tons of fuel arrived in Lebanon last week as part of a complex agreement between Lebanon and Iraq, but an EDL source told L’Orient Today earlier this week that it would be weeks before residents see an increase in the number of hours of state-provided power resulting from deliveries made under this deal.