Lebanon faces mass power outage after last production unit shuts down
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According to a statement from Lebanon's electric company, the last set of production units at the Zahrani Power Plant, which distributes energy to the country, fell offline due to a fuel shortage.
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This photo taken on April 3, 2021 shows an aerial view of Lebanon's capitalof Beirut in darkness during a power outage with the Electricite du Liban national company headquarters. (AFP)
Lebanon's power utility provider confirmed on Saturday a national power outage, affecting critical infrastructure at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, the Port of Beirut, jails, wastewater treatment facilities, and drinking water pumping stations.
According to a statement from the energy of Lebanon, the last set of production units at the Zahrani Power Plant, which distributes energy to the country, fell offline due to a fuel shortage.
This resulted in a full shutdown of energy supplies throughout all Lebanese regions.
The Zahrani Plant in southern Lebanon is one of the country's most important power producing plants, and it is now the sole one in operation, supplying the majority of Lebanon's electrical demands.
According to the statement, the closure of all production units at this facility "came after exhausting all possible precautionary measures to prolong energy production."
The company stated that it "will restart the production units at the Zahrani Plant that were forcibly taken offline, in line with the storage that will be available to it after securing fuel, to gradually restore electricity supply to its previous levels," without specifying the time required for this.
Lebanon's power problem has grown dramatically in recent years as a result of the government's financial problems, which has prevented it from providing foreign cash to buy fuel.
The country's electricity production once fluctuated between 1,600 and 2,000 megawatts per day, but a fuel crisis in recent years has progressively lowered output to historically low levels.
