Industry Lebanon’s energy dilemma: Power cuts and costly solar

Industry Lebanon’s energy dilemma: Power cuts and costly solar

EDL provides just three to four hours a day Households spend 44% of income on energy procurement Dubai, United Arab Emirates – In a car park in West Beirut, a fuel tanker pumps 4,000 litres of diesel into barrels that will keep Bassem Jabir’s four illegal energy generators humming for another few days. Linked to local houses by dozens of thick cables strung across pavements and dangling from street lamps, generators like these have become the primary source of electricity for people struggling through Lebanon’s energy crisis. The moteur industry, as it is known, is a necessary evil for Lebanese citizens but the private generators have tripled toxic emissions in residential areas over the past four years. On June 27 a generator exploded just 2km away from Jabir’s, wrecking six cars and three apartments, but he rejects any criticism of his operation to AGBI. “There’s no electricity here,” he says. “The system is trash, so what are you going to do?”. Jabir set up his business a year ago following the partial collapse of state energy supplier Électricité du Liban (EDL) – which came shortly after the 2019 liquidity crisis became a full-blown economic meltdown. Efforts to bring power back