Is Russia's power grid crumbling?
As much as 80 percent of the hydroelectric power plants and more than 60 percent of the thermal energy facilities are in need of maintenance, Russia's Gazeta.ru reports.
In August, two water ducts collapsed at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station in Siberia, flooding a turbine hall. A fuel tank also ruptured, sending oil into the Yenisei River. Three hydroelectric units were destroyed and seven others were damaged.
Auditors at KPMG said Russia needed at least $500 billion to repair the electric grid, though independent analysts said that sum is not enough.
Yekaterina Tripoten, an analyst at independent financial consulting company Sovlink, said it was unlikely private investments could raise the funds needed to repair and modernize Russia's dilapidated electricity infrastructure.
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A goodwill gesture over electricity sows discord in Lebanon
BEIRUT - It was supposed to be a goodwill gesture from an energy company in Turkey.
This summer, the Karadeniz Energy Group lent Lebanon a floating power station to generate electricity at below-market rates to help ease the strain on the country's woefully undermaintained power sector.
Instead, the barge's arrival opened a Pandora's box of partisan mudslinging in a country hobbled by political sectarianism and dysfunction.
There have been rows over where it should dock, how to allocate its 235 megawatts of power, and even what to call the barge.
It has even driven a wedge between Lebanon's two dominant parties among Shiite Muslims:…
