Lebanon’s solar permit rule: issued, withdrawn and handed to the regulator

What happened in three days

Joint Decision No. 1234 was issued on 9 September 2026 by the ministers of Interior and Municipalities, Public Works and Transport, and Energy and Water. It covered the mechanism and conditions for installing solar panels with a production capacity below 1.5 MW. The Interior Ministry circulated it the next day.

The decision drew criticism from some industry professionals, as L’Orient Today reported. On 10 September, the Energy Ministry published a clarification. On 11 September, at the direction of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the cabinet agreed to drop the decision and referred the subject to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA).

What the decision required

According to Libnanews, the applicant could be the owner, the legal occupant or an agent. The file went to the municipality, or to the qaimaqam, the district administrator, where there is no municipality. It had to include:

• A dedicated application form.
• A statement of responsibility signed by a structural engineer registered with the Order of Engineers in Beirut or Tripoli.
• A statement from an electrical or electromechanical engineer registered with one of the two orders.
• A planning statement from the Directorate General of Urban Planning.

The Order of Engineers only authenticated the signatures. The local authority took the decision, after checking administrative, planning, technical and public safety compliance. Works had to be completed within one year, after which the authorisation lapsed. The Internal Security Forces and municipal police were to record violations.

The decision made no distinction by size below the threshold. A household array and a 1 MW factory roof followed the same route.

Why it was withdrawn

The Energy Ministry’s clarification made two points. First, the decision was temporary. It applied only until ERA issued its own procedures and standards, and would lapse automatically when it did. Second, the engineers’ statements and the planning statement were existing requirements, so the decision added no cost for citizens.

The cabinet took a different route. Its statement referred the mechanism and conditions for installing solar panels below 1.5 MW to ERA. ERA is to act under Article 26 of Law 462/2002, the electricity sector law, after consulting the Environment Ministry and the relevant administrations. On that basis, the statement said, the grounds for Joint Decision No. 1234 no longer existed.

What applies now

Joint Decision No. 1234 is no longer in force. We have found no replacement rules published by ERA as of 2 October 2026, and no timetable for them.

That does not mean that no formalities apply. The Energy Ministry itself described the engineering and planning statements as requirements that predate the decision. A site planning an installation should therefore ask its municipality in writing what it requires today.

The 1.5 MW threshold also matters. Under Law 318/2023, generation for private use between 1.5 and 10 MW needs a permit from ERA. The withdrawn decision and the cabinet’s referral both concern systems below that level, which covers almost every commercial and industrial rooftop in Lebanon.

Why regulation is coming anyway

Distributed solar in Lebanon grew from 78 MW in 2019 to 1,190 MW in 2024, according to figures cited by Libnanews. It supplied 16.6% of the electricity actually delivered in 2024. Most of that capacity was installed quickly, during the collapse of public supply.

The withdrawn decision named its concerns: structural safety, electrical safety and planning compliance. The cabinet has added the environment, by requiring ERA to consult the Environment Ministry. A future ERA procedure is likely to address the same subjects, whatever form it takes.

ERA is also seeking large solar and storage projects

The referral reached ERA while it was running a call to the market. In early August 2026, ERA invited expressions of interest in new generation projects, to be developed as independent power producers. The call covers:

• Up to five grid-connected solar projects with a combined capacity of up to 350 MWp.
• Battery storage with a combined capacity of up to 1,000 MWh, attached to those solar projects.
• Distributed thermal plants of 20 to 100 MW net each, running on natural gas with heavy fuel oil as backup.

ERA extended the deadline to 30 September 2026, then to 15 October 2026, citing requests from applicants for more time. MEED reported that the terms of the power purchase agreements, including duration, tariff structure and indexation, will be set in a later procurement process.

These are utility-scale projects, and none of them will change a business’s supply in the short term. They do show where the regulator’s attention is this autumn.

What it means for businesses

A site that installs solar now does so between two regimes. The practical answer is to build a file that would satisfy the withdrawn decision, even though it no longer binds.

• Commission a structural assessment of the roof or supporting structure, signed by a registered structural engineer.
• Have a registered electrical or electromechanical engineer sign off the design, protection and earthing.
• Check planning constraints for the plot, including height and setbacks, before ordering the structure.
• Ask the municipality in writing what it requires, and keep its answer.
• Keep as-built drawings, equipment data sheets and commissioning records. A future ERA procedure may ask existing installations for them.
• Above 1.5 MW, take advice on the ERA permit required by Law 318/2023 before committing.

These documents are also what an insurer, a lender or a buyer of the site will ask for. An independent review can check that a supplier’s design and paperwork would stand up to the procedure ERA eventually adopts.