USAID and Baaloul Community celebrate the completion of a solar power generation project for Baaloul village

On September 26, 2018, the Building Alliance for Local Advancement, Development, and Investment (BALADI) program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Caritas Lebanon, celebrated the completion of a solar power generation project for Baaloul village in West Bekaa.

USAID provided $200,000 to finance the design, procurement, and installation of a solar farm, including 320 solar power generation panels and other needed accessories for the solar farm. The Baaloul municipality contributed more than $85,000 worth of land, civil works, and equipment. More than 1,300 Lebanese residents and 900 Syrian refugees in Baaloul benefit from this project.

The USAID-financed solar power generation system is coupled with an existing village generator to supply back-up electricity to Baaloul. This additional capacity reduces the cost of household and municipal electricity bills by 25%.

The completion ceremony was held at the Baaloul Municipality and attended by USAID Mission Director Dr. Anne Patterson, Vice President of Caritas Lebanon Mr. Elie Nourieh, Head of the Baaloul Municipal Council Mr. Mohammed Mehieddine, and key officials and members of the Baaloul community and neighboring villages.

In her remarks, Dr. Patterson stated that "Communities and municipalities are at the core of identifying and addressing local challenges. In Baaloul, electricity was identified by the community as a major need, due to unreliable service.

This new system will allow the municipality to sell back electricity to the public network, reducing the municipal electricity bill and generating savings that can be used for other purposes. Baaloul joins 17 villages utilizing USAID-provided solar power generation systems." 

The Mayor of Baaloul, Mr. Mohammed Mehieddine highlighted the positive impact of the project on the social, economic and environmental level on the village of Baaloul. He noted "this project was successful thanks to our partnership with the BALADI program funded by USAID and implemented by Caritas."

Since 2012, USAID has implemented 87 community development activities in more than 140 municipalities in 22 districts. Activities include solar back-up electricity generation, irrigation systems, improvement of public schools and community health clinics, income-generation enterprises, and development of community centers.