EDL: Power restored to the main substation in Beirut's southern suburbs

BEIRUT — Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced in a statement Thursday that electricity power was restored to the main substation in Beirut's southern suburbs.

"Due to Israeli aggression on Beirut's southern suburbs, the two main underground cables, Aramoun–Dahiyeh and Aramoun–Horsh 220 kV, sustained direct hits, resulting in their complete outage. This caused a total loss of power supply via the 220 kV network to administrative Beirut and the southern suburbs since Oct. 4, 2024. During this time, Beirut's power supply was limited to the 150 kV and 66 kV networks," the statement, relayed by the state-run National News Agency reported. 

To overcome shortages, EDL said it took "swift measures to restore power to Beirut via the 220 kV network by contracting works at the Ashrafieh substation," which had been out of service since the Beirut Port explosion. This allowed to restore power to Beirut on the 220 kV network after Dec. 13, the provider added.

Then, this morning, after maintenance works on the main Horsh–Dahiyeh 220 kV cable and within the southern suburbs' substation, EDL "successfully restored power" to that part of the network. It specifically reactivated one out of three transformers within the substation, which allowed for the "gradual restoration of power supply to the southern suburbs."

Infrastructures were widely targeted by Israeli strikes in different parts in Lebanon, notably in Beirut's southern suburbs, the Bekaa and the South. Amid the two months of aerial onslaught, the Israeli army bombed water supply infrastructure as well as solar panels and electrical stations. People in Lebanon have already been enduring severe water and electricity shortages as a result of the collapse of the economy in 2019.

Caretaker Minister Walid Fayad was on tour in the southern suburbs on Thursday morning to assess the damage sustained by the water and energy infrastructures.