Jordan ready to supply Lebanon with electricity once 'other relevant parties are fully prepared'

BEIRUT — During a meeting between Energy Minister Joe Saddi and his Jordanian counterpart Saleh al-Kharabsheh in Amman on Wednesday, the latter noted, in the context of the 2021 plan to provide Lebanon with electricity, that his country is ready to supply Beirut "with part of its electricity needs as soon as the other relevant parties are fully prepared."

According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Saddi discussed with Kharabsheh the status of the Arab gas pipeline to Lebanon and energy procurement, within the framework of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Kharabsheh emphasized the deep historical ties between Jordan and Lebanon, noting his country's directives to "strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries and Jordan’s readiness to supply Lebanon with part of its electricity needs as soon as the other relevant parties are fully prepared."

He added that “the connection lines on the Jordanian side are fully ready.”

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Energy Minister Joe Saddi to L’Orient-Le Jour: No magic solution to Lebanon’s electricity problem

In the summer of 2021, the U.S. launched a project aimed at enabling Lebanon to import Egyptian gas and electricity produced in Jordan.

However, the implementation of the project was blocked by the Caesar Act, which provides Washington with a framework to impose sanctions on anyone cooperating with the Syrian regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted last Dec. 8 by an Islamist-led coalition under Ahmad al-Sharaa.

After U.S. President Donald Trump formally dismantled U.S. sanctions against Syria earlier this year, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Joe Rajji said that lifting sanctions on Syria could, in theory, unlock the 2021 project.

In August, Saddi told L'Orient-Le Jour that the implementation of the agreement signed between Jordan and Lebanon for the transmission of electricity depends on the state of Syria’s energy infrastructure.

Regarding Egyptian gas, the minister had said that Cairo is currently a net importer of gas and is unlikely to be able to supply Lebanon in the short term.