Turkish power ship to arrive in January

Down payment for deal secured

The Cabinet has secured the funds needed to make the first payment to the Turkish power-ships firm Karadeniz, according to Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Mohamad Fneich. The deposit represents 22 percent of the value of the deal, around $86 million.

The deal to lease two power-generating vessels with a total output of 270 MWs was approved in June. The first ship was set to arrive in August.

“Contractually, the first ship will arrive 120 days after the first payment is secured,” said Raymond Ghajar, advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Water. Ghajar said the Turkish firm needs this time to prepare the site for receiving the ships. “They might be able to do it with less time though.”

The project will cost a total of $392 million. The funds, including the down payment, will be taken out of the EDL’s budget.

This sum covers all operations related to the project, including mobilization, site preparation, operation and maintenance, and tax payments. EDL will provide the fuel.

Ghajar said the plan to lease the barges complements the bigger plan to rehabilitate the power plants, mainly in Jieh and Zouk: “We plan to bring down the Zouk and Jieh power plants, each at a time, and restore them for better power supply.” Rehabilitating the two plants needs around four to five years. The power ships lease contract is for three years only.