Minister of Energy and Water Joe Saddi (third from the left), during the signing of the electricity purchase contract with PrimeSouth at the ministry, on Nov. 25, 2025. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Energy Minister Joe Saddi signed a contract with the Lebanese company PrimeSouth for the construction of a solar energy plant in southern Lebanon, the ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday.
The power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with PrimeSouth Chairman Khaled Alami will pave the way for providing electricity for the South — devastated by Israel's widescale bombing campaign in the fall of 2024 and its ongoing attacks since the truce — that will be generated by a photovoltaic, or solar energy, plant.
"This move is part of the minister's efforts since taking office to activate the licenses for the creation of eleven solar farms granted by the government in 2022 but never implemented," the statement reads. "The license was transferred to PrimeSouth by a Cabinet decision on Oct. 9, 2025."
In May 2022, the government awarded 11 licenses to generate electricity from solar energy, each with a capacity of 15 megawatts and an operating period of 25 years, during which the power produced must be sold to EDL at a rate of 5.7 U.S. cents for plants in the Bekaa and 6.27 cents for others.
Upon taking office in early 2025, Saddi found that most of these licenses had remained inactive and announced he was giving all holders until Dec. 31, 2025, to fulfill the necessary conditions to begin developing their solar farms.
Three of these licenses were bought in 2024 by Merit Invest, a sister company of the French transport giant.
According to a source close to the matter, CMA CGM has identified a parcel in Beino, Akkar district, for the license it acquired in northern Lebanon, and it is still looking for sites in Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa.
PrimeSouth, which also manages and operates two power plants for EDL — Deir al-Ammar in the North and Zahrani in the South — now has a few months to find a suitable parcel to use in the South.
