Get the candles ready Lebanon faces another nationwide blackout

With electricity production falling below the level needed to maintain grid stability, fuel reserves required to operate power plants nearing depletion within days, and no new shipments on the way, Électricité du Liban is once again at risk of sliding into a nationwide blackout.

Available generation capacity currently stands at around 500 megawatts, while the grid requires nearly 1,000 megawatts to remain stable. This shortage has reduced electricity supply to roughly four hours per day across most areas, with priority given to essential facilities, including Beirut airport, the port, hospitals, water-pumping stations, and some public institutions.

Meanwhile, gas oil reserves at the Zouk and Jiyeh plants and fuel oil stocks at the Deir Ammar and Zahrani plants are nearing depletion. Estimates suggest that the remaining quantities will last only four to six days if consumption continues at its current rate.

With no fuel shipments expected, the utility will be forced to gradually reduce production and operate some generating units on a rotating basis to prolong operations, resulting in further cuts to electricity supply.

The crisis is not limited to the shortage of fuel. Other contributing factors include rising global fuel prices driven by regional tensions and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, increased electricity demand during the summer, limited financial resources, unpaid dues owed by several public institutions, and the continued operational weakness of some infrastructure since the Beirut port explosion.