Iran to supply Lebanon, Syria with 50 MW of electricity via Iraq

Iran will increase electricity exports to Iraq from 1000 megawatt to 1300 MW, of which 50 MW will be exported to Syria and Lebanon, Iranian official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Iranian deputy energy minister Mohammad Behzad inked the agreement in Tehran on Saturday with deputy energy minister of Iraq Adel Mahdi , Syria’s deputy energy minister Hecham Mufshij and managing director of Lebanese electricity transmission Nagib Saleh.

Lebanon needs a lot more than 25 MW of power ( assuming that Syria is willing to split the quantity in half with Lebanon) . Initially Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roknabadi, said on January 28 that Tehran was willing to help Lebanon end its chronic electricity problems.

“Lebanon requires [an additional] 1,000 MW and we consider this to be a small amount … given that we export around 25,000 MW and we have a surplus of production estimated at around 6,000 MW. We can resolve this problem easily … as soon as possible with simple conditions,” Roknabadi told reporters.

Ever since he made that proposal the quantity of power Iran was willing to export to Lebanon has been going down.

On January 29, 2012 Roknabadi met with Lebanese Foreign minister Adnan Mansour and offered to supply Lebanon between 200-400 MW of electricity.

Last Friday Iran’s Energy Ministry Majid Namjou said that the Islamic Republic is planning to export electricity to Syria and Lebanon through Iraq’s power grid and also said that Iran is able to export 50-100 MW of electricity to Lebanon through Syria,”

Based on the agreement Lebanon will have to share 50 MW with Syria and therefore the blackouts will continue .

The Lebanese cabinet is currently dominated by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group which has been encouraging trade between Beirut and Tehran, despite the UN sanctions which restrict trade with Iran.

A large part of the Lebanese public debt is due to the large subsidy that the electric utility company Electricité du Liban ( EDL) receives from the government. According to the most recent reports EDL receives daily a subsidy of $5.5 million or more than $2 billion annually.