EDL transfers till June at $688 million

Transfers to EDL in H1 2011 up by $122 million y-o-y; Main sources of deficit: selling below cost, power theft, technical loss

Transfers to the Electricité du Liban (EDL) in the first half of 2011 stood at LL1,032 billion ($688 million).The transfers to EDL increased by $122 million from those registered in the same period of 2010.

According to the figures released by the Ministry of Finance, the rise in EDL spending was due to an increase in payments by $84.7 million for fuel and gas oil purchases and a $36.7 million payment for natural gas.

Transfers to EDL constituted around 19 percent of primary expenditures (excluding debt servicing) in the first half of 2011.

Primary expenditures in the first half of the year stood at $3.65 billion. In the first half of 2010, the share of EDL spending was around 17 percent of primary expenditures.

Of the electricity supplied by EdL, a significant portion -around 40 percent- is lost either due to technical losses in the network or due to theft. Technical losses are reported to be around 15 percent of the produced power. Other non-technical losses through illegal connections are reported to be about 20 percent of the produced power. Unpaid bills are estimated to constitute around five percent of the produced power.

According to the latest estimates, the production of each kwh costs LL255 (on average). The EDL sells each kwh at LL127 (on average).

The tariff has not been adjusted since 1996, back when the oil price per barrel was around $21.