Turkey’s Karpowership, the floating power station, which has been supplying Lebanon with 370MW of electricity, shut down on May 14 over a payment dispute. The company says they have not been paid in 18 months and are owed over $100 million. They claim the government has refused to discuss the issue. While the country has an installed capacity of 2,200MW, including the floating power stations, it is only producing 1300MW because of the financial crisis.
Lebanon’s Finance Ministry said it had been notified by the Turkish firm and cited a lawmaker saying that Lebanon could face “total darkness” in case of a shutoff. It has made no public statement about any talks according to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News. Lebanon has been in an economic disaster for the last year, while no significant external aid has come to the country.
