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Lebanonupdated 1h ago2 min read

Qatar Plans Two Lebanon Power Plants And 20-Year LNG Supply Under National Program

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Qatar plans two gas-fired plants in Deir Ammar and Zahrani, 825 MW each. A 20-year LNG supply agreement will accompany the plants.

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Qatar Plans Two Lebanon Power Plants And 20-Year LNG Supply Under National Program
Image: Sout Beirut International
Compared

9 outlets told this the same way.

Shared framing

Four of the twelve relevant headlines emphasise repair or revival of Lebanon’s power sector, with Sawt Beirut and Modern Diplomacy using “save” or “lifeline” language. Much of the coverage follows a document reported by Reuters; Middle East Online adds an influence-competition analysis, and an unrelated Hezbollah story is excluded.

4 of 13 outlets · 4 of 13 headlines analysed

  • صوت بيروت إنترناشونالa Historic Plan to Save Lebanon’s Electricity
  • An-NaharQatar's plan to reform the electricity sector in Lebanon
  • The Jerusalem Postplan to rebuild Lebanon's power sector
See the headlines

Repair or revival of Lebanon’s power sector

Four titles emphasise saving, reforming, rebuilding or offering a lifeline to the power sector. Saving/lifeline are stronger metaphors than the reform/rebuild descriptions; this is a limited conceptual grouping, not a claim that every title promises a rescue. Several reports explicitly follow the document seen by Reuters, and Arabic translations are not treated as evidence of exact English word choices by the original outlets.

Other angles in this collection

Proposal framed as Gulf influence competition

1 outlets · 1 headlines

Middle East Online adds an analysis of regional influence to the same Reuters-reported proposal. That is its interpretive framing, not independent proof of Qatar’s motives.

All 13 analysed headlines

Counts describe this collection. One headline may support more than one angle.

Exclusions: Different event (1).

Analysed 19 Oct 2026.

Reviewed by Codex validator (AI) · 19 Oct 2026

Qatar’s electricity overhaul

Qatar plans to build two power plants in Lebanon over the next three years and sign a 20-year LNG supply agreement under a proposal prepared with Lebanese and Qatari governments, according to a document seen by Reuters. The plan, named the "National Integrated Energy Investment Program," includes gas-fired electricity generation, LNG supply and regasification, renewable energy, battery storage, and regional interconnection of power grids. The proposal calls for constructing two new gas-fired combined cycle power plants, one in Deir Ammar in northern Lebanon and the other in Zahrani in the south, each with a capacity of 825 megawatts.

The document also outlines a 20-year LNG supply agreement between QatarEnergy and Lebanon delivered via a floating LNG storage and regasification unit with a capacity of 3.5 million cubic meters per day, alongside the Arab Gas Pipeline through Syria with a capacity of 4.5 million cubic meters per day. The proposal says the program aims to attract private financing and project funding without pre-budgetary capital expenditure, while payment commitments and guarantees remain subject to negotiation.

Image from An-Nahar
Image: An-Nahar
Reporting for this sectionAn-Nahar

Timeline, approvals, and scope

A person familiar with the matter said the plan still needs government approval and could be revised, with implementation possibly taking three years if approvals are issued quickly. The proposal sets out additional generation targets of 800 megawatts of solar power and 440 megawatts of wind power, alongside battery energy storage capacities. The document also includes importing electricity from Syria, initially 300 megawatts via two separate routes, as part of a broader effort to revive Lebanon’s struggling electricity sector.

The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, visited Lebanon last week and publicly pledged help to revive the electricity sector, though few details were shown to journalists at the time. The plan’s financing approach centers on attracting private-sector funding without upfront Lebanese public-budget capital expenditure, while payment obligations and guarantees remain subject to negotiation.

Image from CNBC Arabic
Image: CNBC Arabic
Reporting for this sectionThe Jerusalem Post

Lebanon’s grid crisis at stake

Lebanon’s electricity sector sits at the center of the country’s financial and economic malaise, with the state electricity company currently supplying only a few hours a day and the rest coming from expensive private diesel generators. The proposal comes as the electricity sector has repeatedly stalled reform efforts and as chronic imbalances have added tens of billions of dollars to the public debt since the 1975-1990 civil war. The plan also relies on Qatar’s growing presence in neighboring Syria, where the Qatar-based Power International Holding group won contracts for 5,000 megawatts of electricity, along with projects in oil and gas extraction and pipelines.

The document says the initiative aims to attract private financing and project funding without pre-budgetary capital expenditure, while payment commitments and guarantees remain subject to negotiation. Lebanon’s energy minister and the Lebanese and Qatari ministries of foreign affairs did not respond to requests for comment on the proposed plan, according to the reporting.

Reporting for this sectionThe Jerusalem PostAn-Nahar