Turkish Karpowership closes power in Lebanon | Business and Financial Issues

Turkey’s Karpowership, which supplies electricity to Lebanon from two ports, said it was shutting down supplies due to debt repayment and threatening its fleet during the recession.

The company, which supplies 370 megawatts (MW), or about a quarter of Lebanon’s supply, told the government this week it should close before a court can be set up.

The closure threatens to cut daily power cuts in the debt-ridden region, which lacks the capacity to meet the pre-emptive needs announced by the Karpowership on Friday.

Many people rely on secret generators or suffer for several hours a day without power.

‘Critical times hard to deal with’

In a statement, the company said it was closing the stock.

“For 18 months we have been very flexible with the government, providing power without pay or remuneration, because the country had already experienced some very difficult times. However, no company can operate in such a high-risk and unnecessary environment,” Karpowership it said.

A source said this happened at 8am (05:00 GMT) because the ship’s oil had already dropped.

The unnamed source said the debts were paid in excess of $ 100m and added that the government had not offered to negotiate or try to settle the case, although the company had done so repeatedly to avoid closure.

‘Darkness’

Lebanon’s finance ministry has said it will be notified by a Turkish company and has called on parliament to allow the country to look “in the dark” if closed. It did not say anything in public during any of the discussions.

A Lebanese prosecutor has threatened to seize a basket this month after the Lebanese television al-Jadeed made false allegations against him. The company denies the allegations.

He also said that he had not received any payment for 18 months, a time equal to the financial crisis, adding that he needed a “solution” to stay in the generation.

Each of its bills can hold up to 202 MW against a total of 370 MW.

An industry spokesman said Lebanon’s capacity is about 2,200 MW, plus barges, but it only produces 1,300 MW in total, plus Turkish’s 370 MW cargo. Lebanon’s demand for 2020 was 3,500 MW, the source said.