Lebanon to receive Jordan electricity via Syria, deal signed

By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon has signed deals to purchase electricity from Jordan via Syria to help the small Mediterranean country deal with its crippling energy crisis. The deals are expected to bring Lebanon up to 250 megawatts of electricity a day within two months, enough for about two hours of power a day. The electricity will be transmitted through Syria. The World Bank is expected to finance the deals, and negotiations are underway. Lebanon’s Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said he expects financing negotiations to conclude in two months. The energy crisis is at the heart of Lebanon’s snowballing economic crisis described as one of the world’s worst since the 1850s.