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Jordan to supply Lebanon with electricity via Syria

October 6, 2021 at 3:21 pm

Workers operate on high voltage towers after they were damaged on May 23, 2019 [MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images]

Jordan today agreed to supply Lebanon with electricity via Syria, a few weeks after Egypt agreed to supply Beirut with gas.

The announcement came after the electricity ministers of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria met in Amman to discuss a work plan for re-operating an electric interconnection line between Jordan and Syria.

“The meeting was held to discuss the re-operation of interconnection lines between Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon to assist the Lebanese brothers to meet part of their electricity needs,” Jordanian Energy Minister Hala Zawati said.

For his part, Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad said a roadmap has been agreed to remove technical obstacles, adding that the next step will focus on seeking funding for the agreement from the World Bank.

Jordan and Syria have an electricity connection via a 400 kV transmission line established in 2001, but it has been out of service since 2012 for technical reasons.

READ: Syria says it welcomes Lebanon’s request to import energy

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

On Sunday, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Jordanian King Abdullah II held a phone conversation,  their first open communication in a decade since the Syrian civil war erupted.

Another sign of warming ties between the neighbouring countries after Amman cut ties with Damascus as a result of its brutal campaign to quash pro-democracy protests.

Last week, Jordan fully reopened its main border crossing with Syria and, last month, the flagship airline, Royal Jordanian, announced the resumption of direct flights to Damascus. Amman has also joined efforts to support Damascus’s return to the Arab League.