Energy status in Lebanon and electricity generation reform plan based on cost and pollution optimization

This paper presents a review of the energy status, conventional and renewable, in Lebanon and illustrates their problems with the suggested recommendations. In addition, a detailed review of the principal directorates of the electricity of Lebanon Company (EDL) is also presented all along with the existing problems and recommended solutions. An economic, environmental optimization of different power sources is studied, where three scenarios are introduced based on the fuel source of different CCGT power plants. The results emphasized on the maximum possible use of wind energy and natural gas in electricity generation. Based on the optimization study, a five-year master plan for electricity generation is modeled. The suggested plan has an investment capital cost of 5553 M$ with the savings and additional incomes being 5900 M$ compared to EDL financial status in the adopted base year, 2009. In addition, this plan exceeds the trend to introduce a 12% share of renewable energy in the power sector by 2020, where the share is supposed to be about 15% out of the total installed capacity before this date. The concluding remarks highlight the role of politics in the development of the energy sector. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.