We are awaiting approval from Washington and the World Bank to supply Jordanian electricity through Syria

Dead Sea, June 8, 2022 (Xinhua) The Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayyad said that his country is waiting for the approval of the US administration and the financing of the World Bank to implement agreements to supply Lebanon with Jordanian electricity through Syria.

On the sidelines of his participation in the regional conference for the future energy dialogue held in the Dead Sea today (Wednesday), Fayyad said that “we have the line that we are working on, which is supplying Lebanon with Egyptian gas through Jordan and Syria, as well as supplying it with Jordanian electricity through Syria.”

Fayyad called for the necessity of finalizing the approvals regarding supplying Lebanon with electricity from Jordan through Syria before the summer, asking for help from “Arab brothers and friends” to supply Lebanon with gas and fuel (fuel oil).

Regarding financing, he said that the contracts were signed with the Jordanian side some time ago, and we are still waiting for financing from the World Bank and final assurance from the US administration in this regard.

And he talked regarding “completing all the conditions set by the World Bank to implement its promises of financing,” and said, “We are waiting for the implementation of his promise so that the Lebanese can enjoy a quantity of electricity, especially since in summer the demand increases and the number of visitors to Lebanon increases.”

Fayyad expressed his “thanks” to Jordan and all the parties that worked to “end the agreements with regard to electricity, and today with regard to gas, we are regarding to finish these agreements.”

Lebanon is witnessing an electricity crisis, as the current is rationed in most Lebanese regions between 19 and 22 hours.

Minister Fayyad considered this conference an “opportunity” to help Lebanon find solutions that increase its electricity supply.

Jordan, Lebanon and Syria signed at the end of last January in Beirut the electric power supply contract and the transit agreement necessary to start supplying electric power from Jordan to Lebanon through the Syrian electric network.

According to the agreement, regarding 150 megawatts of electricity will be supplied to Lebanon from midnight to 6 a.m., and 250 megawatts during the rest of the hours.

The Lebanese Foreign Minister, Abdullah Bou Habib, announced last January that US officials had informed him during a visit to the United States that the project to import energy to Lebanon from Egypt and Jordan through Syria was exempted from the restrictions of the US “Caesar Act” which prohibits cooperation with Damascus.