Jiyeh power plant
on grid next month

Zouk plant to follow within a few months

The construction of a new power plant in Jiyeh is in its final stages.

“It will start producing power by the end of October,” said Ahmad Loubani, Director of the Commercial Department at the Embassy of Denmark. The plant will increase total power production by 17 percent.

Danish firm Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), the project’s contractor, is conducting testing and commissioning works in the preparation to link the new plant to the grid.

The Jiyeh plant will have a total production capacity of 78.2 MW. The $116 million plant was funded by the Denmark-based Export Credit Fund (EKF) through HSBC. German MVV Decon is supervising the works.

Construction had begun in 2013 but was deferred for ten months due to payment delays by the Ministry of Finance. It was later resumed in late 2014.

BWSC is also building a plant in Zouk, with a total power production of 194 MW, at a cost of $244 million, also funded by EKF. “The new Zouk power plant will be completed and connected within the next six months,” Loubani said. Electricité du Liban (EDL) released a statement saying: “The EDL will isolate part of the current plant in the next few days in order to restore it in a lead up to connect it to the new plant.”

The isolation will lower the plant’s production to 80 MW, leading to power cuts in Jounieh, Kaslik, and Zouk Mikael. Power feed will also be lowered in Jeita, Bekfaya, Faytroun, Hakl el Rayes, Batha, Nahr Ibrahim, and Adma.