Lebanon’s 24-hour power blackout sparks sabotage investigation

Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Joseph Saddi, has called for an urgent investigation to ensure that there was no "deliberate sabotage" following a total power outage that hit the entire country around midnight Saturday to Sunday, worsening the suffering of citizens facing an intense heatwave.

- Grid failure -

The Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced in a statement that the cause of the nationwide blackout was "an emergency failure in one of the high-voltage transformers at the main Zouk power plant."

The statement explained that a drop in insulation of one component due to high humidity and heat led to the initial failure, which in turn caused a "thermal stress" on the steam turbine at the Deir Ammar plant, preventing its restart.

The EDL confirmed that its technical teams are working to repair the fault and gradually reconnect production units, but reconnecting the main unit at Deir Ammar (150 megawatts) will require about 24 hours.

The repercussions of the power outage extended to the water sector, as the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Establishment announced that some of its main pumps had stopped working, leading to reduced water supply hours in the capital and coastal Metn areas.

- Suspicions of sabotage -

Minister Saddi said in a statement on Monday that he requested the Director-General of Electricité du Liban to open an investigation to confirm that there was no sabotage, "especially given information indicating suspicions about the nature of some power outages."

Saddi criticized the deteriorating condition of the sector, stressing that "mitigating the impact of such failures would be easier if modern plants had been built to meet demand over the past fifteen years." He reiterated his goal of establishing sustainable solutions for the sector, starting with the construction of modern gas-fired power plants.

- Financial moves to address the crisis -

In a related development that could contribute to long-term solutions, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber met with Saddi on Monday, where they signed a decree to enact the World Bank loan law allocated to the electricity sector, in preparation for its approval by the Council of Ministers.

Separately, after meeting with the Acting Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Waleed Shamlan, Minister Jaber announced the Fund’s intention to assist in repairing projects damaged by the war, including the Litani River project and sewage systems in Marjeyoun, as well as the possibility of granting funding for feasibility studies to build new silos to enhance Lebanon’s food security.