Lebanon finalized a $12.9-million deal with the Ukrainian State Corporation Ukrbudmaterialy for the construction of a 33-kilometer pipeline that would transport pump 1.5 million cubic-meters of Syrian natural gas per day to the Baddawi power plant in northern Lebanon, reported the Daily Star.
The pipeline is expected to go on stream by 2004. Seeking to cut production costs at the 450-megawatt plant, the Lebanese government has decided to switch from costly diesel fuel to natural gas. To that end, a gas purchase agreement was signed with Syria in December 200. The Syrian LNG will reduce Lebanon’s electricity production costs by half, from $0.07 per kilowatt to approximately $0.032.
The Baddawi plant is expected to undergo renovations in the near future under a contract signed in mid-2002 with an Italian-German consortium Ansaldo-Siemens. Baddawi will receive a second gas unit to produce an additional 150 megawatts of power. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
