The Zahrani power plant. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — The oil tanker Chem Helen, has arrived at the Zahrani terminal and has started discharging its cargo, Lebanon's caretaker Energy and Water Minister, Walid Fayyad, said Tuesday, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
"The tanker began unloading its cargo, allowing the electricity supply to increase by four and six hours," per day Fayyad said.
According to Electricité du Liban's (EDL) press office, the Chem Helen, a tanker carrying 30,000 tons of Egyptian diesel, was purchased by the Lebanese state as part of a "one-time deal" to aid Lebanon — following a week of operating at minimal levels due to insufficient fuel.
The Algerian tanker, In Ecker, has anchored offshore Tripoli's Beddawi oil facilities and is currently waiting to unload its cargo pf 30,000 tons of fuel oil — which was donated by Algeria to aid Lebanon in its electricity crisis.
The ministry has launched inspection and cleaning operations for Lebanese facilities — tanks, pipelines, etc. — to ensure they can receive the fuel oil without compromising its quality. It notes that the fuel oil facilities have been unused since the defective fuel issue with EDL, which led to the termination of the fuel supply contract with the Algerian company Sonatrach. This issue has yet to be adjudicated.
EDL had said Monday that the next fuel shipment under the ongoing swap agreement between Lebanon and Iraq since summer 2021 is expected to arrive between Sept. 7 and 8.
EDL’s financial problems, which have impacted its production and supply for many years, worsened with the onset of the economic crisis that began in 2019. Various measures implemented over the past three years have somewhat improved the situation in recent months — before the near-blackout the supplier has faced since late July.
Subsequently, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati requested that the Central Inspection (IC) and the Court of Cassation investigate the circumstances leading to the near-total interruption of electricity production, despite EDL’s warnings since early July that such a scenario might occur.
