Case Study on Policy Reforms to Promote Renewable Energy in Lebanon E/ESCWA/SDPD/2017/CP.7
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Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia United Nations Development Account project on promoting renewable energy investments for climate change mitigation and sustainable development Case Study on Policy Reforms to Promote Renewable Energy in Lebanon E/ESCWA/SDPD/2017/CP.7 Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia United Nations Development Account project on promoting renewable energy investments for climate change mitigation and sustainable development Case Study on Policy Reforms to Promote Renewable Energy in Lebanon 2 CASE STUDY ON POLICY REFORMS TO PROMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY IN LEBANON © 2018 United Nations All rights reserved worldwide Photocopies and reproductions of excerpts are allowed with proper credits. All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), e-mail: [email protected]. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Links contained in this publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are correct at the time of issue. The United Nations takes no responsibility for the continued accuracy of that information or for the content of any external website. References have, wherever possible, been verified. Mention of commercial names and products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. References to dollars ($) are to United States dollars, unless otherwise stated. Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. United Nations publication issued by ESCWA, United Nations House, Riad El Solh Square, P.O. Box: 11-8575, Beirut, Lebanon. Website: www.unescwa.org. Cover photo credits: Solar panel, by stevanovicigor Wind energy, by Satura Beirut sea rock in Lebanon, by Wissam Santina 3 Preface This case study report was prepared for the Energy Section of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) Sustainable Development Policies Division within the framework of the United Nations Development Account (UNDA) project on Promoting Renewable Energy (RE) Investments for Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainable Development. The project focused on capacity building for policymakers and project developers in order to promote investments in RE projects. The project was led by the UN Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) and implemented in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The UNDA project included case studies on the experience of RE policy reforms in selected countries from each of the two Regional Commissions (RCs). A total of eight countries were targeted (four from each RC): Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and UAE from the UN ESCWA Member states, and Serbia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia from UN-ECE Member States. The present report covers the case study for Lebanon and was prepared by Mr. Joseph Al Assad (PhD), Associate Professor at the USEK University, Lebanon, he is currently serving at the ministry of energy and water as a senior advisor in renewable energy and energy efficiency. He has been leading a number of related initiatives, including the preparation of the Lebanese Renewable Energy Strategy, the National Renewable Energy Action Plan and the Lebanese Energy Statistics Review. The following experts helped review and finalize the document: Mr, Mazen Halawi, Head of Subsidized Loans and Financing Programs Divisions at the Banque Du Liban, Lebanon, and member of the UNDA advisory board; Radia Sedaoui, Chief, Energy Section and Mongi Bida, First Economic Affairs Officer (SDPD/UN ESCWA in Beirut). 5 Executive summary In cooperation with the United Nations Economic decentralized installations that were adopted Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations essentially as a solution for electricity back-up Economic and Social Commission for Western instead of diesel generators. Asia (ESCWA) is implementing a United Nations Development Account Project Promoting Renewable Renewable energies have not reached their optimal Energy Investments for Climate Change Mitigation potential in Lebanon, however, and still lack a and Sustainable Development. legal framework that will allow them to flourish on the national level in a manner that will allow The objective of the project is to assist the two the integration of large-scale renewable energy UN regional commissions to strengthen capacities projects. of their Member States to attract investments in renewable energy projects in the context of climate During the 2009 Conference of the Parties (COP) change mitigation and sustainable development. meeting in Copenhagen, the Lebanese Government launched a commitment to have 12% of renewable The report presents one of the four case studies on energy in 2020. This commitment was more of a the experience of policy reforms in selected ESCWA political commitment and lacked a clear definition of Member countries. Its main purpose document is to the energy mix based on which the 12% target is set. present a comprehensive study of the impact of the implementation of the National Renewable Energy In 2010, the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water Action Plan (NREAP) on the Lebanese energy market (MEW) strengthened and clarified this vision in their in general. Policy Paper for the Electricity Sector by stating that the target was to reach “12% of the electric and The energy sector in Lebanon has been suffering thermal supply”. since the beginning of the 1990s because of the lack of a clear policy setting goals for the development This policy paper did not, however, set a clear of the sector. No investments have been made in path towards the 12% and did not set shares for any power plants since the mid-1990s, leading to a each renewable energy technology. All this was decline in their generating capacities, and enlarging completed in the The National Renewable Energy the deficit thereby with increasing demand. Action Plan for the Republic of Lebanon, in which a clear path was set towards the 2020 target of 767 Several plans and policies were developed in order kton of oil equivalent (ktoe) of renewable energy to improve the situation. The most comprehensive (equivalent to 12%). Moreover, NREAP proposed a plan was prepared by Gebran Bassil and adopted by the Lebanese Government in 2010. For political Shares of renewable energy within the national 12% target reasons, however, the application of the plan was Generated energy Share of the 12% Technology delayed several times. (ktoe) target (%) Since the beginning of the conflict in Syrian Arab Wind 595.7 17% Republic, the problem has been amplified even PV, CPV 240 7% more by the influx of Syrian refugees, increasing the Lebanese population and thereby the demand Distributed PV 160 4% for electricity, and widening the gap between SWH 685.5 19% generation and demand to approximately 5,524 GWh CSP 170.6 5% in 2014. Hydro 961.9 27% Renewable energies presented an opportunity Geothermal 6 <1% in Lebanon, offering a developing market in the electricity sector, especially in terms of Biomass 771.5 21% Source: El Assad, J. and P. El Khoury (2016) 6 CASE STUDY ON POLICY REFORMS TO PROMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY IN LEBANON clear distribution of the 2020 among the different and feed it to the grid: it was, however, never resources as shown in the table below. implemented. This law was followed by several Having a clear vision, combined with the detailed amendments that were proposed to make it more targets, presents a significant motivation for applicable to current Lebanese conditions and to investors in renewable energies to identify their stimulate the spread of renewable resources. In opportunities and hence help develop the sector conclusion, the review of the current legal situation even further through the integration of the private in Lebanon shows that this framework still requires sector. many efforts from the regulatory point of view in order to cope with those being carried out on other The impact of the implementation of NREAP levels. was studied in this report on Lebanese society from various points of view. The total cost of the Meanwhile, most of the renewable energy projects implementation of NREAP varies between US$ 1,320 are limited in size, essentially because of this legal million and US$ 3,166 million, whereas the direct barrier with some deviation from these restrictions cumulative savings for the Lebanese economy is by the recently organized wind-farm tender that can estimated at approximately US$ 319 million. constitute a precedent. From another point of view, these renewable energy Another example of relatively large-scale projects projects will be providing about 1,890 hours of extra being implemented in Lebanon is the Beirut River electricity in 2020, reducing blackouts and diesel Solar Snake (BRSS), where MEW, through the generators shares. The first to benefit will be the Lebanese Centre for Energy Conservation (LCEC) least fortunate section of the Lebanese population