Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has entered into power purchase agreements (PPAs) with French shipping agency CMA CGM for three new solar projects.
Licenses for the projects were obtained by CMA CGM’s subsidiary company, Merit Invest, as part of the Lebanese government’s approval of 165 MW of solar spread across eleven 15 MW sites in May 2022.
After finding most of the licenses were inactive when he came into office in February this year, Lebanon’s current Energy and Water Minister, Joe Saddi, gave developers until the end of 2025 to meet the necessary conditions to begin developing their projects.
The three solar sites are located in the governorates of Mount Lebanon, the North, and Bekka. They will each be connected to the national grid operated by Electricité du Liban (EDL) and are expected to produce enough power to support 22,000 homes.
Saddi said the plants will also help to reduce electricity costs, thanks to a fixed price of $0.057/kWh in Bekaa and $0.0627/kWh in the North and Mount Lebanon, which he added is well below EDL's average production cost.
Joe Dakkak, Managing Director of the CMA CGM Group in Lebanon and the Levant region, commented that land has already been secured for the project in North Lebanon, while the search continues for the other two sites.
“For all three projects, we confirm that we are working and will continue to work efficiently to fulfill all the preconditions required under the power purchase agreements, with the goal of starting construction as soon as possible,” Dakkak added.
Lebanon’s cumulative solar capacity stood at 1,005 MW at the end of 2024, the same figure reported at the end of the year prior, according to statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
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