Lebanon’s Law 318/2023: net metering, direct sales and what is still missing

The law and its scope

Parliament passed the Distributed Renewable Energy Law on 14 December 2023. Law No. 318 is dated 22 December 2023 and was published in Official Gazette No. 53 on 28 December 2023. It took effect on publication.

It covers electricity from renewable, non-fossil sources connected to the public grid, up to 10 MW per system at the connection point. It gives defined roles to Électricité du Liban (EDL) and to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), created by Law 462/2002.

Five forms of net metering

The law recognises five net metering arrangements:

• Single owner: a system on the subscriber’s property, with one meter for exchanges with EDL.
• Aggregated meters on one property: several subscriptions of the same subscriber on the property where the system sits, with production recorded on a separate meter.
• Tenants and owners: several subscribers on the same property, or on directly adjacent properties, sharing one system.
• Multi-site: several subscriptions of the same subscriber on properties that are not adjacent, for which EDL may charge wheeling fees.
• Virtual or collective: subscriptions in one town sharing a system that the subscribers own or rent, also subject to wheeling fees.

Surplus is rolled over for 12 months from 1 March each year. Each year EDL sets a compensation price per kWh, within a ceiling set by ERA. At the end of the 12 months, it pays the producer for any remaining surplus at that price.

The pricing criteria include capping compensated surplus at a set share of the subscriber’s consumption, avoiding any negative effect on EDL’s finances and using one price nationwide. Net metering may not be used to disguise a power sale.

Direct sales and wheeling

Renewable producers may also sell electricity to consumers under power purchase agreements, within a tariff ceiling set by ERA. No public grid is needed when the buyer is on the same property as the producer or on a directly adjacent one.

Sales over the public grid are possible anywhere in Lebanon. The producer must meet EDL’s technical specifications, install a dedicated meter at the connection point and sign a wheeling agreement with EDL. EDL sets the wheeling fees within a ceiling set by ERA.

ERA must publish the method behind these ceilings and update it every year. It covers technical losses, use of the transmission and distribution networks, administrative fees and unforeseen costs. Connection costs and any technical losses are borne by the producer.

The roles of EDL and ERA

EDL handles the physical and commercial side. It sets technical specifications, approves connections and may refuse one only for technical obstacles. Producers must pay the full connection and net metering costs before EDL contracts with them. A dedicated renewable energy directorate within EDL is to be created by decree.

The law limits EDL’s liability. EDL is not liable for rationing that prevents producers from supplying the grid. Nor is it liable for accidents at subscribers’ or producers’ premises, unless its direct responsibility is proven.

ERA writes the rules. It defines eligible subscribers and technologies, system size relative to subscription capacity, rollover and compensation principles, and template agreements. It also issues permits for generation for private use between 1.5 and 10 MW. The law gave it two years to issue its regulations.

What is in force in September 2026

The law has applied since December 2023, but its main mechanisms depend on ERA, which did not exist then. The Council of Ministers appointed ERA’s board on 11 September 2025, more than two decades after Law 462 provided for it.

In December 2025, ERA said it was working on how to integrate and apply Law 318 within the sector’s regulatory framework. In April 2026, UNDP sought consultants to help ERA and EDL operationalise the law. In July 2026, ERA listed the regulation of distributed energy resources among its tasks for the next phase.

We have found no ERA regulations, fee ceilings or template agreements published under Law 318 as of late September 2026. The law’s two-year deadline passed in December 2025. Until these rules appear, eligibility, compensation prices and wheeling fees remain undefined.

EDL has run its own net metering scheme since the early 2010s, with balances reset each year. Lebanon’s national renewable energy action plan notes that it is renewed annually and has lost appeal because EDL supply is so limited. Whether EDL is signing new contracts under it should be confirmed directly.

What it means for businesses running generators

EDL supplied about four hours a day in July 2026, according to Libnanews, so generators still carry most business demand. Solar output mainly displaces generator kWh. Net metering can only offset EDL consumption, and export is possible only while the grid is energised.

In 2020, the World Bank found that solar-diesel hybrids saved more per kWh than net metering, because generator power cost far more than EDL’s tariff. EDL raised its tariffs from 2022, so the comparison should be redone at current prices.

• Size solar for the site’s own daytime load and the generators’ limits, not for export credits whose value is not yet set.
• Specify controls that can operate with both EDL supply and the generators, and that manage export and minimum generator load.
• Treat sales to neighbours as a future option. Sales to adjacent properties are allowed in principle, but depend on ERA procedures and templates.
• Keep records of system capacity, metering and protection, which EDL will review before approving any connection.

ERA has also said that microgrids are an exceptional solution, subject to its no-objection, and are not meant to give legal cover to private generators. Generator operators considering solar should follow its decisions closely.