9th October, 2021
Lebanon’s case has gone from bad to worse as its power grid has collapsed after its two biggest power stations shut down due to diesel shortage.
The first power plant at Deir Ammar shut down on Friday.
The second Zahrani power station followed today, after diesel supplies were exhausted.
‘The Lebanese power network completely stopped working at noon today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days,’ a government official said today.
The official said the state electricity company would try to use the army’s fuel oil reserve to operate the power plants temporarily, but that would not happen anytime soon.
Many Lebanese normally rely on private generators run on diesel, although that is in short supply.
Lebanon has been paralysed by an economic crisis, which has deepened as supplies of imported fuel have dried up.
The Lebanese currency has sunk by 90% since 2019.
Energy production in the country dropped below 200megawatts – which is only enough to power approximately 5,000 homes.