The ongoing Syrian refugee crisis is straining Lebanon's already inadequate electricity infrastructure, a recent report published by the Energy Ministry and UNDP Tuesday has found.
Even prior to the rapid influx of refugees fleeing the ongoing war in Syria, Lebanon's power system was unable to meet daily demand, with power cuts a staple of life throughout the country. Jil Amine, a power specialist with the UNDP in Lebanon who did not speak at the conference, explained that peak demand for power in the summer hits 3,100 MW but the peak generation from plants provides around 1,600 MWs.
In total, once completed, these projects would have already added 443 Megawatts to the grid.
Nevertheless, due to the rapid influx of Syrians, the power output by the refitted facilities was matched almost exactly by increased demand from refugees.
According to Robert Sfairy, the senior Energy Consultant to the Energy and Water Ministry, this energy expenditure comes from two primary sources: direct and indirect usage.
The increase in usage has also strained the basic infrastructure of Lebanon's power grid, Hoyek said.
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