The contract for the operation and maintenance of the two new power plants at Zouk and Jiyeh has been won by a joint venture of Indian firm Operational Energy Group (OEG), Turkish firm Arkay Limited, and local firm Middle East Power, according to a source at the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW).
The contract is pending the sign-off of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Its value is €108 million ($119 million) over a period of five years.
The Danish contractor, Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), will now hand the two new power plants over to MoEW’s German consultants, MVV Decon, which will in turn hand them over to the joint venture. The two plants will have a power capacity of over 270 megawatts.
On the other hand, Entrepreneur Mohammad Adib will establish an electricity company called Tripoli Electricity Company in order to privately generate power.
Adib, who is the owner of the Tripoli-based Miramar resort, will establish the company in cooperation with Zahlé electricity concession’s Chairman, Assaad Nakad.
Adib said: “We will be sending a request letter to Electricité du Liban (EDL) asking permission to use its distribution networks.”
If permission is granted, the distribution networks would be rented to the company.
The company intends to generate power according to the same model as that in Zahlé.
“We will import generators from the British firm Aggreko to produce power,” said Adib.
The Heavy Fuel Oil generators are expected to have an installed capacity of around 150 megawatts.
In order to acquire a legal private generation permit, the company also has to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Water.
Similar to the setup being implemented in Zahlé, generators will be used when the national electricity feed is off.
The target behind the project is to provide constant electricity to the city but at a cost that is 30 percent less than the price accrued from the actual duel bills that citizens pay for now from EDL and private generator use.
Upon approval, it will take three months to install generators and start operations.
This is the second privately-owned electricity company to be established in Tripoli. Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati established Nour al-Fayhaa in 2015, which was set up to supply Tripoli with uninterrupted power. Actual implementation of this project has yet to start.