Two more barges
proposed by MoE

1,000 MW power plants

in Selaata and Zahrani needed

The Ministry of Energy and Water has put forth a new plan to increase power production starting this summer. The plan requires the approval of the Council of Ministers.

The plan proposes procuring the power production services of two more electricity barges with a capacity of 425 megawatts each.

“The barges will be sourced from the Turkish firm Karadeniz for a period of five years at a cost of 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour,” an energy expert at the ministry said.

If approved, the barges would be linked to the electricity grid in May and August.

Two power ships, Fatmagul Sultan and Orhan Bey, have been linked to Zouk and Jiyyeh plants since 2013. Together they produce more than 250 MW of power combined.

The plan also calls for the construction of 1,000 MW of solar power. A proposal was presented by power giant Tesla, which is leading an alliance that is also formed of Enerech and Grupo GRS.

“The installation would cost $1 billion since each megawatt costs $1 million. It would be carried out on Maronite Waqf property somewhere in the mountains,” the expert said.

The installation would require around one million square meters of land.

If the plan were to go through, two new power plants would also be developed in Zahrani and Selaata according to the Independent Power Production scheme. Each plant would have a production capacity of 500 MW.

“The plan calls for holding consensual agreements with the companies instead of tenders,” the expert said.