This resolution, which recently made headlines on the social media, comes after Electricité du Liban (EDL) was unable to provide more than 800 megawatts of energy due to the fact that its funds are in Lebanese pounds and it can only buy fuel in US dollars. EDL is a public institution and can only purchase dollars from the Banque Du Liban (BDL) on the basis of the official exchange rate, in order to secure maintenance parts, chemicals and fuel. As for the generators, their supply hours have dropped because they were previously affected by the diesel shortage, while their owners now fear that customers will be unable to pay the subscription fees. Against this backdrop, the demand for solar panels increased, and attention has turned to local authorities that have already started a solar energy project within their scope, as has the private sector.
In talking about independent experiences in alternative energy, we found that the central regulatory element is absent, therefore we will be facing a new state of energy waste in multiple forms. And given the chaos in the electricity sector since the generators entered the field with the interests of fuel and oil importers, the solar energy experience would also be chaotic, but nevertheless it has produced guiding models for the government to draw up an electricity plan based on its experiences.
Municipalities in Lebanon have broad powers, and one of the most important roles entrusted to them is local development. And while the State has monopolized the electricity sector with the possibility of some granted exceptions such as" Zahle Electricity", the need for an alternative to "EDL" during rationing hours has produced generators and solar power in the form of generators, which indicates that this sector is not regulated to date, and is a product of need.
Within this framework, the experience of the municipality of Kfarmishki in the Rashaya district has become a "cited example" among the Lebanese. In this Bekaa town, about 100 homes receive 5 amperes, and electricity is distributed for about 5 hours, according to a member of its municipality, Tony Ayoub who noted that "the preparation for the solar energy project began about 4 years ago, and it was actually launched in October 2019. The project costed 200 thousand US dollars, and several associations contributed to its financing, including USAID and Caritas.” He pointed out that "solar energy accounts for 30 percent of the electricity used by households." This shows that some Lebanese municipalities rely on themselves and on their access to donor assistance in order to provide basic services to the population. And while the roots of this project date back to the pre-economic collapse in Lebanon, the “rush” of municipalities and private institutions towards alternative solutions will deepen the need for decentralized solutions to the electricity crisis, in the absence of a broad and comprehensive change in the way the electricity facility is managed.
However, despite the success of Kfarmishki municipality in securing electricity for the population in spite the diesel shortage crisis, and the subsequent rise in its price after the lifting of subsidies, Ayoub pointed out that “there is a problem that further reverses the success of the experience, as the energy produced during daylight hours cannot be used during the night because the project was not provided with batteries,” explaining that “the cost of the required batteries is high, meaning that we will need a new financing project at a cost close to the basic project.” Therefore, the municipality operates a generator for 4 or 5 hours a day that distributes power to homes, so the need for diesel has not ceased, “but the electricity bill in homes has decreased while the cost of the generator reached about $12 per 5 amperes, noting that solar energy does not cost,” Ayoub explained.
Rustom Saïbi, president of Bejjeh municipality (Jbeil district) which built its municipal building in an eco-friendly way and supplies it with solar electricity, said: “We are working to secure a land to install solar panels, and within a month we will start supplying the whole town with electricity from clean energy.”
“The cost of the project for a village or town with about 300 homes, would be approximately $650,000 or $700,000, along with the cost of solar batteries, which is an acceptable price because the network is located in Bejjeh along with the meters,” he said. He explained that “we would like to purchase solar panels and we are conducting a comprehensive study on the issue, and we are cooperating with donors, including UNDP, to finance this individual initiative that we have undertaken as a local authority without any support”.
"When the State moves towards administrative decentralization and finances municipalities, the latter will be able to develop their scope responsibly and constructively," Saïbi added.
Municipal experiences do not stop there. Another experience is the solar water heating project in the municipality of Choueir. However, the municipality stated that it “has submitted a solar energy project and is waiting to receive approval in order to install 60 amps of solar panels on the roof of the municipal building, meaning that it would be a large network.”
The municipality pointed out that “the solar water heating project (within its scope) started with Minister Elias Bou Saab when he was president of the municipality of Choueir. The project was launched in cooperation with a Lebanese bank that provided financing facilities, in order to encourage individuals to participate in this project, in which about 100 houses have participated to date.”
Regarding the new solar energy project in Choueir, the municipality stated that “its goal is to supply the municipal building and nearby squares with electricity in order to have street lighting at night,” explaining that “in the event of an electricity cut in the town, the municipality will provide power to the institutions threatened by power outages, and then it will be able to supply them with power.”
These initiatives came to address the citizen’s need for electricity amid the darkness of the economic crisis in Lebanon, but they remain individual and do not fall within the framework of a comprehensive electricity plan that will pull the country out of the cycle of rationing and the danger of disruption of services and basic needs, such as the internet, water and others. However, similar initiatives that help the population are fine, especially since they do not cause toxic emissions in the form of those that come out from private generators. But the “dismissal” of a comprehensive and centralized plan for electricity based on alternative energy leads to wasting a large amount of energy and loses the solution.
On the other hand, the need for generators for all municipalities has not ceased due to the non-purchase of batteries for energy storage. However, this experience made it necessary for the municipality to distribute the electricity of generators and solar power itself to homes, which led to some kind of stability in villages and towns.
The conclusion we reached after questioning the municipalities presidents is that, in addition to the fact that the bill dropped significantly after switching to solar power, the population got rid of the problem of frequent power outages, and they were able to work remotely and learn from home without any problems.
Township initiatives are numerous and cannot be counted in this report, and the same is true for private sector initiatives. After reaching the red line for the diesel crisis, which threatened all sectors, including chicken farms, the solution was found in a chicken farm in Mtein, owned by the father of agricultural engineer Roland Sarkis. This farm has 80,000 chickens and 160 solar panels. Sarkis confirmed that "the cost of the project is about $80,000, but it does not include batteries, which makes us resort to a generator.”
The savings made by the farm, only in terms of diesel, are $900 per month compared to their other farm, which does not have a solar power project.
As for "Arcenciel" in Deir Taanayel, one of its managers, Elia Ghorra, stated that "solar power generation projects in Deir Taanayel started in 2014, the last project being completed in 2018, and their total cost reached about 170 thousand US dollars,” pointing out that “the project contains 600 panels, but without batteries, which makes us resort to generators.”
"Last year, the project produced 203 megawatts," he added, noting that “the project was financed by several parties, including the UNDP and the United Nations, through loans.”
Most of these experiences have shown that the batteries necessary to conserve the produced solar energy are not available to be used when the sun is absent, which inevitably leads to the need to resort to a special generator to benefit from solar energy.