Lebanon’s two main power plants were transitioned on Friday, plunging much of the country into a near-total blackout. The shutdown – caused by the 2 plants running out of fuel – worsens a crisis that has seen people receive just two hours of electricity each day. A lack of foreign currency has made it hard to pay overseas energy suppliers. Pharmacies have also gone on strike over medicine shortages caused by the failure to pay foreign importers. Lebanon’s two biggest power stations, Deir Ammar and Zahrani – which together provide about 40% of the country’s electricity – stop working on Friday, their owner Electricite Du Liban (EDL) said. Ships loaded with hydrocarbon had refused to dump the fuel before money was transferred to their owners’ accounts in dollars. Lebanon’s two main power plants were transitioned on Friday, plunging much of the country into a near-total blackout. The shutdown – caused by the 2 plants running out of fuel – worsens a crisis that has seen people receive just two hours of electricity daily. A lack of foreign currency has made it hard to pay overseas energy suppliers. Pharmacies have also gone on strike over medicine shortages caused by the failure to pay foreign importers. Lebanon’s two biggest power stations, Deir Ammar and Zahrani – which together provide about 40% of the country’s electricity – finish off on Friday, their owner Electricite Du Liban (EDL) said. Ships loaded with heating oil had refused to dump the fuel before money was transferred to their owners’ accounts in dollars. In the eastern city of Zahle, EDL asked residents to cut back their consumption to a minimum, saying the “power supply has been cut across Lebanese territories indefinitely”. As the BBC’s Sebastian Usher notes, swathes of the country are now facing water rationing still. The pumping stations are powered by diesel and lack the supplies they have to function. Lebanon has suffered a severe slump over the past 18 months, and its currency – the pound – has collapsed to record lows. Some local healthcare companies have already run out of medicines needed to treat cancer and cardiopathy. Lebanon: Why the country is in crisis Pharmacies closed their doors on Friday in protest of the shortages. The association of pharmacy owners announced a “general open-ended strike across Lebanon”, claiming 80% of stores within the capital Beirut were shut. Power cuts aren’t unusual in Lebanon – the country hasn’t had 24/7 electricity for many years. State-generated power was rationed, and folks filled within the gaps by plugging into a parallel system of personal generators. Today, it wasn’t just a niche. For the primary time, the whole grid went offline, and therefore the private generators became the sole source of power. But they too are harassed. They run on diesel, which is difficult to search out, and that they simply haven’t got the capacity to completely replace state electricity. On top of this, they need become very expensive, and thus unaffordable for lots of individuals. This means that almost all people in Lebanon are currently facing long hours of total blackout. Lebanon is currently facing financial and economic collapse. It’s hard for the people here to work out the sunshine at the top of the tunnel. Literally.
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