The plan, proposed by the Minister of Energy and Water, Gebran Bassil, calls for introducing new power projects that would be financed through Public Private Partnerships, and soft loans from donor countries.

Citizens hope that the plan will put an end to an era of long-power rationing hours that have made them depend on power generators to obtain power.

Lebanon generates around 900 megawatts of power per year, short below the country’s minimum needs of around 1,500 megawatts, according to official data.

The plan estimates the power generation capacity to grow to around 2,560 megawatts by 2013, from the current 900 megawatts, and to 4,090 megawatts in 2014, and to 4,315 megawatts by 2015.

The government will start implementation of the plan this summer, and it is considering buying barges from Turkey and other states that will help generate around 110 to 280 megawatts of electricity. Also, the government intends to buy around 150 megawatts of power from Turkey that will be transmitted to Lebanon through the common electricity line it shares with neighboring Syria.

The plan also calls for improving the already-existing power plants, building power mills, and boosting power generation through water, and it calls for the establishment of new power plants in three years from 2010 to 2013, which could generate a combined capacity of around 700 megawatts of electricity.

The plan also proposes to build a $70 million, liquefied gas station in Sela’ata or in Zahrani, in a project that would need three years to be complete from 2011 to 2014.

According to the plan, the government will offer $1.5 billion for financing the projects, or around 32 percent of total sums needed, while private partners and companies will finance up to 47 percent of the projects for $2.34 billion. The remaining $1 billion will be leveraged from donor countries, the plan said.