Lebanon faces total blackout as main power stations run out of fuel

Lebanon is witnessing a complete blackout owing to its main power stations shutting down after running out of fuel.

The first power plant, Deir Ammar, shut down on Friday and the second, Zahrani station, shut down on Saturday, leaving the country in complete darkness.

Electricite du Liban (EDL), Lebanon’s state electricity company, reportedly confirmed the shutdown of the two power plants in a statement.

“After the Deir Ammar power station was forced to stop producing power yesterday morning (Friday) due its gasoil reserves running out, the Zahrani plant also stopped this afternoon for the same reason,” the statement reads.

It said the closure led to the complete collapse of the power network — with no possibility of resuming operations for the time being.

The company reportedly said the shutdown reduces the total power supply to below 270 megawatts, meaning a major drop in the stability of the grid.

It said it will reach out to fuel facilities in the country’s north and south to see if they can procure enough fuel to bring back power.

For many months, Lebanon has been battling an economic crisis made worse by a shortage of fuel in the country.

The electricity company is said to be struggling financially to get fuel and is dependent on credit from the country’s central bank and other measures, to remain functional.

There were reportedly power outages throughout September owing to the fuel shortage with the state providing only two to three hours of electricity daily.

The fuel shortage was said to have in recent months forced many businesses to close and left people relying on the black market.

Most of the population are also said to have been forced to rely on expensive private generators that run on diesel to keep electricity on. Hospitals have reportedly struggled as well, fearing the safety of their patients.

According to Al Jazeera, protests erupted after the outages, with angry residents converging on the regional office of the electricity company.