Algeria to supply Lebanon with fuel to solve electricity crisis

Algeria will "immediately" supply Lebanon with fuel to help the country overcome its electricity crisis, the Lebanese government said on Sunday.

"Lebanon will be immediately supplied with quantities of fuel to help it overcome the current crisis in the electricity sector," Algerian Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui told his Lebanese counterpart Najib Mikati during a phone call, the government said in a statement.

Mikati extended thanks to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for this "initiative" and for his country's "continued support for Lebanon in all areas."

There was no Algerian comment yet on the report.

Lebanon's electricity company announced a nationwide power outage on Saturday after the last group of production units at the Zahrani Power Plant, which supplies the country with electricity, went offline after running out of fuel.

The power outage affected key facilities, including the Rafik Hariri International Airport, Port of Beirut, prisons, wastewater treatment facilities, and drinking water pumping stations.

The Zahrani Plant in southern Lebanon is one of the most important power generation stations in the country and currently the only operational one, supplying most of Lebanon's electricity needs.

Over the past couple of years, the frequency of power outages in Lebanon has significantly increased due to the government's financial distress, which led to its inability to provide foreign currency to import fuel.

Lebanon's power production earlier ranged between 1,600 and 2,000 megawatts daily, but the fuel shortage in recent years has gradually reduced production to unprecedentedly low levels.