Smart grids fight blackouts

Project goal: Increase share of renewables in energy mix, guarantee a stable electricity supply

Project size:Lebanon is aiming to boost the share of renewable energy to 12 percent by 2020

CO2 Savings: Every unused liter of diesel saves around three kilograms of carbon dioxide  

In many parts of Lebanon, towns and cities get only five to six hours of electricity a day. In order to bridge the gap, many use polluting diesel generators. Wind and solar energy could be a solution, but they have so far only provided power on a small scale. Now, authorities are planning to employ a system of smart grids that store renewable energy and make it available when needed. Consumers can also install solar panels on their roofs, producing their own energy and feeding surplus amounts into the grid. That surplus can then be used on days where there is no sun, or when a house uses more electricity than it produces. In that way, the grid itself is transformed into a storage system. Lebanon also plans to build major wind parks. Since the wind there doesn’t blow consistently,  the grid has to be adjusted to handle the fluctuations. Engineers from Lebanon are learning how to do just that at a training session in Germany. With their newly acquired knowledge, they’re staying up to date with the latest technology and hoping to make power failures at home a thing of the past.

A film by Dan Hirschfeld