Jordan, Syria and Lebanon reach final draft to transfer electricity — Kharabsheh

AMMAN — The Kingdom on Thursday hosted a meeting of ministers concerned with electricity from Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to discuss developments in the project to transport Jordanian electricity to Lebanon through the Syrian grid.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Kharabsheh, Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayyad and Syrian Electricity Minister Ghassan Zamel attended the meeting.

During a press conference following the meeting, Kharabsheh said that Jordan, Syria and Lebanon reached a final draft for a contract to provide Lebanon with Jordanian electricity through Syria, stressing the readiness of the Kingdom’s grid to transfer electricity, according to a ministry statement. 

The minister added that the three sides agreed to provide Lebanon with 150 megawatts of electricity between midnight and 6am, and 250 megawatts in the remaining hours of the day. 

Kharabsheh referred to the ongoing work to address the technical issues on the Syrian grid. He expected maintenance works to finish before the end of the year and Lebanon to start receiving electricity early next year. 

Fayyad said that the agreement can help Lebanon realise energy security and its sustainability, noting that the deal is “environmentally friendly and financially acceptable and has proper conditions”.

The Lebanese minister also noted that the World Bank agreed to finance the project. 

Zamel said that Syria is “serious” about reviving the electric connection with Jordan, where work has commenced to rebuild this line with a cost of $5.5 million. Zamel stressed that “Damascus will not hinder the implementation of the scheme”, according to the statement.  

Amjad Rawashdeh, director general of the National Electric Power Company, reviewed the outcomes of the technical committees’ discussions over the past two days.