Electric pylons originating from the EDL transport station in Baabda. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros)
Électricité du Liban (EDL) announced Friday that 10 to 12 km of cables have been stolen, apparently from high and medium voltage lines in the Baalbeck district, between Makneh and Younin. In a statement, the management of the public utility condemned "an act of vandalism" and warned of a risk of total power outages in this part of the Bekaa, urging authorities to "investigate those individuals who are stealing the company’s installations and to bring them to justice."
According to EDL, during an inspection tour "on 66 and 220 kilovolt [kV] lines" held on Wednesday, its teams discovered that individuals "had opened fire on the pylons, made them fall to the ground, then dismantled them before removing them."
"The seriousness of these acts of sabotage lies in their repeated and systematic nature, endangering the safety of investments and public safety and causing significant material damage," the EDL management added.
The utility also warned that "the districts of Baalbeck and Hermel, particularly areas supplied by the Labweh and Hermel substations, are now exposed to total power cuts" following this theft.
"These violations, ongoing for about five years, have led to the collapse of 11 high voltage 220 kV pylons, reducing the capacity of EDL technical teams to carry out the necessary operations on the transmission network," the management further added.
The electricity sector in Lebanon is in a particularly advanced state of disrepair due to insufficient investment in infrastructure, limited production capacity, a network damaged by war and plagued by illegal connections and finances that have long depended on advances from the Treasury.
Teams are making significant efforts to ensure continuity of electricity supply in all areas served by the two main stations of Labweh and Hermel, the utility added.
The Lebanese electricity company "hopes that security forces and all official bodies will pay the utmost attention to this issue, given the seriousness of the events and the risk that theft and acts of sabotage could cause total power outages and significant financial costs to the national economy."
