Lebanon and Qatar negotiate over power generation agreement to save Lebanese national grid

Lebanon and Qatar will resume negotiations this week to finalise an integrated Build-Operate-Transfer power generation and 20-year natural gas supply agreement, Lebanese Energy Minister Joseph Al-Saddi told Asharq Bloomberg.

The bilateral framework, involving QatarEnergy and UCC, aims to overhaul Lebanon's collapsing electricity grid without requiring initial capital from the cash-strapped Lebanese treasury. 

Lebanon’s government had its electricity supply cut off by state utility Électricité du Liban (EDL), with Lebanon’s Parliament, the Ministry of Finance, and regional water authorities losing access to power. EDL explained that the decision stemmed from the government’s outstanding debt of over $240mn to the company, as a result of unpaid utility bills. Despite holding allocated budgets, state entities have routinely ignored electricity invoices, shifting the financial burden onto an already crippled national grid.

As explained by IntelliNews, without state power, ministries are forced to rely on expensive private diesel generators, paradoxically increasing public expenditures. The aggressive disconnection campaign marks a rare operational shift for EDL, signalling that the government's era of treating electricity as an unfunded utility is finally facing systemic pushback.

While the Lebanese-Qatari initiative could be a government workaround, the execution of the BOT model hinges entirely on Beirut's ability to fix its deeply flawed tariff collection system, ensuring the state can actually finance the imported gas and ongoing operational costs.

The sweeping infrastructure initiative will upgrade existing natural gas-fired plants in Deir Ammar, Tripoli, and Zahrani, while simultaneously adding utility-scale wind and solar capacity. Speaking in Beirut last month, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed that the joint venture extends beyond a single power station to encompass "various sources of energy production and the necessary infrastructure" for long-term grid stability, as quoted by Argaam.

Next week, officials in Doha will host dedicated talks focusing strictly on pricing and supply security for the 20-year gas contract. Until the Qatari infrastructure comes online, Lebanon’s newly formed electricity regulatory body is urgently restructuring grid distribution to curb systemic revenue leaks. Achieving financial sustainability is a strict prerequisite for Lebanon to honour its future Qatari commitments, while the state temporarily relies on power imports from Syria to mitigate immediate blackout risks.