BEIRUT — As of midday Saturday "the last operational unit at the Zahrani power plant was forced to shut down completely, due to the complete depletion of the plant's fuel oil reserves, resulting in a total power outage across all Lebanese territories," the state power provider Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced in a statement.
The shutdown affects "essential facilities such as the airport, port, water pumps, sewage systems and prisons," the statement said.
EDL said that it "will reactivate the units that were forced offline, in line with the reserves available, once fuel oil is secured, and subsequently, power and electricity supply will be gradually restored to their previous levels."
EDL "will keep all citizens informed of any developments regarding electricity supply through subsequent statements on this matter," the statement concluded.
Contacted by our publication, the caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad indicated a timeline of 24-48 hours for the restoration of power. Fayad stated that a procedure is being finalized to transfer, in the next 24 to 48 hours, fuel compatible with EDL's power stations that is stored in Lebanese oil installations.
According to the caretaker minister, this will in principle enable EDL to operate 200 megawatts of production units to enable EDL to hold out until the next delivery of fuel, which should take place on Aug. 25.
The South Lebanon Water Establishment meanwhile said in a statement Saturday that the EDL outage has had a "significant impact on its ability to pump adequate water supplies" following the shutdown of the last functioning production unit at the Zahrani power plant.
In response, the South Lebanon Water Establishment is “urging citizens to conserve water as much as possible due to the expected reduction in water supply. Although the institution will activate its generators to mitigate the effects of the power outage, these measures are not enough to fully compensate for the reduced water production. As a result, the establishment may not be able to adequately serve all cities and towns within its coverage area.”
“Citizens are advised to take immediate precautions and limit water usage until further notice,” the statement concluded.
On Wednesday, following a cabinet meeting chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the cabinet announced that an agreement had been reached to "purchase some of the necessary fuel" to prevent Electricité du Liban (EDL) from shutting down all its power plants.