When built they will represent the country's first industrial-scale wind power plant. Completion is expected in 2020.

Conditional permits have been issued to Hawa Akkar (60MW); Lebanon Wind Power (60MW); and Sustainable Akkar (82MW). All three projects are located in the wind-rich northern Akkar region.

The three companies – all joint ventures between local and international enterprises – had previously agreed to sell the power to state utility Electricite du Liban for $113/MWh. However, the government now wants to negotiate a lower tariff.

This should be possible because various issues regarding the payment terms have now been resolved, explains Pierre El Khoury, director general of the Lebanese Centre for Energy Conservation (LCEC).

An agreement should be reached early August, after which the companies have three months in which to sign the power purchase agreement, then another 18 months to complete the environmental impact assessment and fulfil other permit conditions.

Once everything is approved, they have a further 18 months in which to build the projects and bring them online.

Lebanon aims to source 12% of its electricity and heat from renewables by 2020.