State-owned QatarEnergy and France’s TotalEnergies have agreed to jointly develop a solar power plant in Lebanon.

The agreement was announced on 16 October during the Qatari prime minister’s official visit to Beirut, where he held a joint press conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

According to a statement published by the Lebanese Prime Minister's Office, the plant will be an initial project under a broader framework for energy cooperation between Qatar and Lebanon. Its capacity, location, investment value and implementation schedule have yet to be disclosed.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani said: “The aim is to develop a major investment project that benefits the Lebanese economy, as well as the Qatari companies and entities participating in it.”

Separately, Salam said the Lebanese and Qatari governments were “close to reaching an agreement” to rehabilitate, develop and modernise Lebanon’s electricity-generation infrastructure.

The proposed project would cover the country’s various electricity-generation sources and associated infrastructure, aiming to improve the reliability of electricity supplies and reduce costs.

The project would use a build, operate and transfer model, under which Qatari entities would finance, implement and operate the facilities without upfront investment costs for the Lebanese treasury, Salam said.

Salam also said the proposal was being prepared with support from the International Finance Corporation, and that he hoped to present it to the Lebanese government soon.

The wider initiative is intended to address Lebanon’s longstanding electricity-generation shortfall and overcome financing constraints that have delayed infrastructure projects in the sector.

As MEED previously reported, the Lebanese government continues to advance broader reforms to the country’s electricity sector.

In August, Lebanon’s Electricity Regulatory Authority invited private sector companies to submit expressions of interest (EoIs) for several upcoming power-generation projects.

The EoIs cover up to five grid-connected solar photovoltaic projects with a combined installed capacity of 350 megawatts-peak. The projects are also expected to include battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatt-hours.

The regulator is also seeking proposals for distributed dual-fired thermal power plants with net capacities of 20MW-100MW.