The Council of Ministers approved three permits for private companies to operate wind turbines for electricity.
The permits will be operated by Hawa Akkar, Sustainable Akkar, and Lebanon Wind Power. They will be used for the production of 200 megawatts (MW) of wind power, according to Pierre Khoury, Chairman of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).
All three wind farms will be located in Akkar.
A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will be signed with the three companies within three months.
“The Ministry of Energy and Water was commissioned by the Council of Ministers to renegotiate prices agreed upon with the companies,” he said.
The three companies have agreed to sell Electricité du Liban power for 11.3 cents per kilowatt hour.
“We will see if the prices can be lowered further. Prices remain feasible between 10.1 and 11.3 cents,” he said.
Khoury said: “This is the first time since private power sale was sanctioned in 2002 by Law 462 and updated in 2010 by Law 288, for the private sector to sell power to the state.”
The ministry has three weeks to renegotiate prices. Upon signing the PPA, the three companies will have 18 months to complete the Environmental Impact Assessment and other safety checks. After this, they will have 18 months to complete the building of the wind farms.
The wind tender was launched in 2013. It is part of a 2010 national strategy for the production of energy through multiple sources.
Source: businessnews.com.lb
