BEIRUT, Lebanon

Lebanon signed an agreement with Jordan on Wednesday to transmit electricity through neighboring Syria.

The agreement is part of efforts to ease crippling power shortages in cash-strapped Lebanon.

The deal will secure "250 megawatts of electricity to Lebanon, in cooperation with Jordan and with support of Syria," Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad said in a joint press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian counterparts Saleh al-Kharabsheh and Ghassan al-Zamel.

Al-Kharabsheh said the agreement acquires special importance as it comes at a critical time for Lebanon.

Al-Zamel, meanwhile, said Syria has completed “all arrangements for electric linkage from Jordan to Lebanon”.

“Syria will provide all facilitations to accomplish the agreement,” he added.

Lebanon suffers from a severe shortage of electricity supply due to insufficient fuel needed for power generation, in addition to a sharp rise in the prices of derivatives due to the collapse of the lira, and the lack of foreign exchange needed for imports.

In September 2021 the energy and oil ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon agreed on a road map to supply Beirut with Egyptian gas to resolve the country's energy crisis.

Jordan and Syria are electricity-interconnected via a 400 kV transmission line since 2001, but it has been out of service since 2012 due to technical reasons.

Meanwhile, Syria has interconnection lines with Lebanon by transmission lines of 400 kV, 230 kV, and 66 kV.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar