New power plant
to replace the one in Jiyyeh

Estimated cost: $500 million for 450 MW

The Council of Ministers has approved a request by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) for funds to dismantle the existing power plant in Jiyyeh and build a new one.

The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) was commissioned for the task. The estimated cost of the new plant is $500 million.

The ministry is in negotiation with Electricité de France (EDF) to conduct a feasibility study on the deconstruction and decontamination of the current plant, which generates 78 megawatts. Assisted by the Orhan Bey power barge, total generation at the site is around 260 megawatts. The new plant will have an estimated power generation of 450 megawatts.

The contract with Karadeniz Powership, the Turkish firm which built the barge, will be renewed, according to a source at the ministry, until the construction of the new plant ends.

Some auxiliary parts of the existing plant will remain, such as the fuel tanks and pumping stations.

The initial plans to restore the Jiyyeh power plant were scrapped because the cost was deemed to be too expensive. Last November, the Council of Ministers approved, in an emergency meeting, two loan agreements worth $200 million with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development for the restoration of the Zouk and Jiyyeh power plants. These funds will now go to the restoration of the Zouk plant alone, according to the source.