Many of Lebanon's key sectors and infrastructure are witnessing chronic wear and tear, which has increased in light of the country's suffocating crisis, and among these sectors is the "electricity", which is considered one the chronic crises in Lebanon, and is the result of a dilemma combined of a mixture of corruption, waste and nepotism in a sector whose losses to date have reached more than $43 billion, and the result is the same: no electricity.
The electricity sector in Lebanon is suffering from chronic shortages in supply, and is reliant on a support that have cost the treasury billions, with technical and non-technical losses ranging between 36 and 40%, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Électricité du Liban (EDL). What is required in Lebanon is to cover the electricity demand which equals up to 3,500 megawatts at peak hours, while in the best circumstances the production did not exceed 2,000 megawatts until it gradually declined to reach "zero" on the day when the power plants were disconnected from the network, and the country plunged in complete darkness. The plants were later reactivated on Iraqi fuel, while private generators provided up to 20 hours supply daily, until they were forced to adopt a rationing schedule to reduce costs under the collapse of the exchange rate and the lack of liquidity in dollars.
Indeed, the sector fell apart, plunging the country into total darkness with rationing hours rising to record highs, while the country is suffering from a severe shortage of foreign currency liquidity to buy fuel for the plants and secure their necessary maintenance.
Lebanon is currently suffering the worst power outage crisis in the world, where landmarks are currently operating on Iraqi fuel, which provides a maximum of 400 megawatts of electricity, meaning four hours of maximum feed.
Currently, supply hours have increased to 7 hours in many areas, after they were previously no more than two hours, with the decrease in pressure on the network, while the production volume currently ranges between 580 and 620 megawatts. Reliance remains on the arrival of the Egyptian gas by the end of this year to the Deir Ammar plant in North Lebanon through the Arab Pipeline via Jordan and Syria, as part of a project funded by the World Bank to contribute to the production of up to 460 megawatts. Lebanon is also counting on the completion of technical and administrative procedures to draw electricity from Jordan to secure approximately 150 megawatts of electricity from midnight until six in the morning, and 250 megawatts from six in the morning until midnight. Lebanon is also currently working to raise the volume of fuel it imports from Iraq on concessional terms, with Iraq supplying Lebanon with about 60,000 tons per month for one year.
As the situation in Lebanon has become increasingly negative, especially in the energy and electricity sector, the importance of promoting and implementing decentralization in the energy sector has once again come to the fore.
Several factors point to the positive impact of decentralization on the development of societies, especially at a time when there are multiple sources of energy and an increasing pressure on its transport and supply. Here, it should be recalled that in 2018 the Lebanese Government, through the Ministry of Energy and Water, updated its national renewable energy action plan to achieve the goal of securing 30% of Lebanon's electricity needs by 2023 through renewable energy projects involving wind and solar production.
At a time when the national energy plan included upon its development the basic technologies to be worked on, including solar energy to produce electricity, and solar energy to heat water, in addition to energy produced from wind, hydroelectric and geothermal energy, all that was set to ensure that renewable energy would account for about 12% of Lebanon's total energy by 2020.
In a report issued last year by the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Ministry of Energy and Water, the average cost of generating 4214 megawatts of renewable energy in Lebanon is about $6.7 billion.
In the presence of all these opportunities and attempts to increase supply hours and improve the performance of the energy sector in Lebanon, the spotlight is back on the decentralization of energy and the importance of implementing this decentralization in terms of improving the management of energy import and distribution at the districts level and its positive impact on development in regions and rural areas.
This reality also contributes to securing multiple and different energy strategies between regions as well as promoting electrical exchange between them if necessary. Decentralization also contributes to alleviating the political tension in the country, whereas the power and the management over the energy sector is limited to one political party, which will inevitably contribute to the active participation of all in the success of the sector.
One of the advantages of decentralization in terms of energy is that it improves the service so that financial returns are distributed equally among districts, which contributes to creating a favorable climate for increasing job opportunities while easing pressure on the capital as well as ending displacement between villages and cities. In addition, decentralization is essential and important in reducing institutional waste through close follow-up on a focused scale for geographically confined daily work, especially with regard to collection, mechanization of the sector and increasing competition.
All of this serves to secure an atmosphere conducive to a breakthrough in terms of peace and civil and community stability with the improvement of the service provided, in parallel with the promotion of territorial action and the rush to develop the service, all of which are factors that contribute to create more job opportunities and reduce unemployment in remote villages and towns outside the capital, as well as contribute to reduce waste and enhance accountability. Thereby, each region acquires a new approach to developing and diversifying energy resources.
It is important to note that there are several factors that are fundamentally linked to the exceptional Lebanese reality, which is considered to be very complex, including the sectarian, confessional, partisan, political and territorial distribution. This reality may sometimes contribute to the use of energy and administrative decentralization as a weapon in order for the authority to streamline political, party and sectarian control under a new fait accompli of a factional nature that prevails over public benefit and at the expense of energy resources.
If federalism concerns of some are not addressed, and if it is not clarified how the Ministry of Energy and Water deals with territorial administrations to manage the sector, it becomes very difficult to reassure the Lebanese components about the importance of administrative decentralization in the field of energy, especially in maintaining civil peace.
The energy sector is divided into several categories, including exploration of natural resources such as oil and gas, extraction and transportation by sea and land, refining to generate and distribute energy, and, last but not least, collection, which is considered the financial return of countries and the return on investments in development projects.
In each of these categories, there are major challenges that must be identified and heeded. If answers, clear laws, security and serious accountability are not secured across the country, the idea of decentralization in the energy sector will become mere ink on paper as its implementation will be hampered by many flaws.
Finally, and if the objective in Lebanon is to establish a viable and healthy energy sector based on administrative decentralization in the interest of sustainable civil peace, all Lebanese society must participate in a long-term workshop, with the state setting a national vision first and a territorial vision second on how to manage and preserve this sector amid all internal and external challenges surrounding Lebanon.
Securing energy requires large-scale and nationwide plans in order to provide the appropriate, viable, and legal ground for this battle and experience that has proven successful in many countries, as large investments must be provided and distributed equally and not discretionary, and on a clear strategic basis that contributes to rebuilding this sector which has caused more than half of Lebanon's public debt.