Electricity Is Restored in Lebanon, as Army Supplies Emergency Fuel - The New York Times

It was a temporary reprieve for a grid that has been supplying only a few hours of electricity per day, as Lebanon’s collapsing economy struggles to import fuel.

The two main power plants, chronically short of fuel, had been providing only a few hours of electricity per day before Saturday, when they ran out of fuel and stopped working completely.

Walid Fayyad, the energy minister, said in a statement on Sunday that the army had supplied fuel from its reserves to the power plants, Zahrani and Deir Ammar, and that the network had resumed “normal” operation — suggesting it would go back to producing a few hours of power per day.

Fayyad said that Lebanon’s central bank had freed up $100 million to be used to import fuel, which would help raise electricity generation by the end of the month.

Critics say Iran and its allies are more interested in media stunts than in real aid, that the fuel it has sent is little in comparison to Lebanon’s needs and that the proposed Iranian power plants are unlikely to ever be built.