Lebanon runs on 7,000 private generators. Most can’t see who’s using their power.
Engrid gives generator operators eyes on every meter, so they stop losing money and power.
A day in an operator’s life
A composite operator, not a real person.
He runs one generator for 50 to 70 buildings, 5 to 20 homes in each, all within about 1 km. Power goes out on cables strung between the buildings.
Who pays for how many amps is written in a notebook. The notebook is the only record.
Once a month a collector walks door to door, building by building, and comes back with cash.
Between two buildings, someone has hooked a cable straight onto the line. It never touches a meter, and nobody sees it.
A subscriber says her bill is wrong. There is no reading to show her, only the notebook.
Power produced, not paid for
Every month, part of the power he produces is never paid for.
Why now
The meters are coming either way. What they connect to is still open.
- 7,000 to 7,500
- private generator operators across Lebanon
- 1.2 million
- metering points, up to
- August 2025
- the government made certified electronic meters mandatory
How Engrid works
From the meter in the stairwell to the operator’s phone, in five steps.
- 1
Meter
A certified meter for each home, in the building’s electrical panel.
- 2
Building bridge
A small box in the building reads all its meters over one short cable.
- 3
LoRa radio
The bridge sends readings by long-range radio to a gateway on the generator’s roof. No new cables between buildings, no SIM card in each one.
- 4
Engrid cloud
The gateway passes the readings to Engrid over the internet.
- 5
Dashboard and phone
The operator sees every meter live. The collector’s phone shows who to visit and what they owe.
LoRa is a low-power radio built for long range. Measuring its coverage in real streets is the first job of the pilot.
What the operator gets
Billing, monitoring and payments first. Everything else builds on those.
Every meter, live
Load for every home and every building, updated through the evening. No more guessing who is drawing what.
Fair bills, three ways
Fixed amperage, metered kWh or prepaid. Each home on the plan that suits it, with a reading behind every bill.
Theft shows up
If a building draws more than its meters add up to, Engrid flags it, so someone can go and look.
Faster collection
The collector gets a route for the day and records each cash payment. The subscriber gets a receipt.
And for every home
The same readings the operator sees, each home can see for itself. Both sides look at the same numbers, so there is less to argue about.
Today’s usage
How much the home has used today, and when.
This month’s bill
What is owed so far, worked out from the meter, not from memory.
Payments and receipts
Every payment, with a receipt the subscriber can show.
Each home gets a web view of its usage and bills, and bills by SMS.
Subscriber web view
21:00Engrid
Your home
Apt 2B, Building 3
Metered plan
Using now
2.62kW
Used today
30.3kWh
Today
00:0012:0024:00
Bill this month
Paid
$71.64
Payments
- Today, cash$71.64
- Last month, cash$65.91
ReceiptNo. 1041
Today 19:25$71.64
Simulated USD
Run a generator network for an evening
Twelve buildings, one generator, one gateway. Watch the evening peak arrive, catch a bypass and collect a payment. It runs in your browser on simulated data.
Open the live demoWhat we’ve built
The software platform is built and running. These are screens from it.
- Multi-tenant platform: each operator has their own space
- Billing engine with three modes: fixed amperage, metered kWh, prepaid
- Flows for collectors and technicians
- Alerts when readings don’t add up
- Audit logs of every change
- Over-the-air firmware updates for the hardware
- Security review done, critical fixes shipped
Where we are
Done
Proven on the bench
The first question was whether we could read real meters at all.
- ESP32 + RS-485 Modbus prototype reading meters
Done
The platform
The software an operator and their homes use every day.
- Full operator platform
- Billing in three modes: fixed amperage, metered, prepaid
- Subscriber web view, and bills by SMS
- Security review done, critical fixes shipped
Done
The hardware path
How readings will get from each building to the cloud.
- LoRaWAN chosen for the radio network
- Meter and gateway vendors shortlisted and in technical talks
Now
A pilot partner
A place to prove it in the field.
- A generator operator has agreed to host the first pilot.
Next
Hardware for the pilot
Building and installing the hardware.
- Qualify the meters: certified relay meters that report over RS-485
- Building bridge: read every meter in a building and send it by LoRa radio
- Gateway on the generator’s roof, and a coverage test through real concrete
- Install the pilot with the first operator
- Sign the first paying operator
Later
After the pilot
Where the network can go once the grid is back.
- Work with the regulator and the new distribution operators as the grid comes back.
- Let solar homes send their surplus and get it credited.
No hardware is in the field yet. Funding the pilot is our next step.
Planned
What the data makes possible
Once Engrid is reading meters across a network, those readings add up. We plan to train models on them to help operators run the generator, not only bill for it.
Forecast the load
Tonight’s peak and tomorrow’s, before they arrive.
Plan fuel and hours
How much fuel to buy and how long the generator needs to run.
Size the network
Which buildings and lines need more capacity, and which are oversized.
Catch problems early
Theft, faults and failing equipment, spotted sooner from patterns in the readings.
Time maintenance
Service the generator when the data says it’s due, at an hour when fewer homes need power.
Later
Ready for whatever powers Lebanon next
Today EDL can supply 8 to 10 hours a day at best, and generators fill the rest. That’s starting to change: a regulator is in place, smart metering is funded, and a plan to restructure EDL was approved in 2026.
Generators won’t be Lebanon’s only source of power forever. But whoever supplies it, someone still has to meter every home, bill it fairly and see where power is lost. The reform plan moves distribution to new regional operators. Operators who already run a metered, transparent network on Engrid are best placed to take on that role, or to work alongside EDL. Engrid keeps working whatever the source, and we’d like to help shape that transition with the regulator.
Later
Homes with solar, part of the network
Many homes added rooftop solar during the crisis, and a lot of that power goes unused at midday. Lebanon’s 2023 renewable energy law allows homes to send their surplus to the grid and get it credited on their bill, once the regulator puts it in place. Engrid’s meters will measure what a home sends back as well as what it uses, so that credit is fair and visible to both sides.
How Engrid makes money
Once per operator
Platform setup
A one-time fee per operator to set up their network, billing plans and staff accounts.
Grows with the network
Hardware
Meters, building bridges and gateways, sold as the operator adds subscribers.
What we’re raising for
We’re raising our first funding to take Engrid from the bench to a real street.
Step 1
Install the pilot
One gateway, building bridges and meters with the first operator.
Step 2
Measure for three months
Radio coverage in real streets, and what happens to collections.
Step 3
Sign the first paying operator
Use the pilot’s numbers to win the first customer.
Investors and partners welcome.
Tell us who you are and we’ll send the details.
Who’s building it
Abdullah Fayad
Founder, Engrid.
I’m Abdullah Fayad, and I designed and built Engrid end to end, from the first bench prototype to the operator platform and the billing engine. Engrid gives generator operators an accurate view of every meter on their network, and gives every home a clear record of what it used and what it owes. When both sides look at the same numbers, bills get fairer and losses get caught. Then the data starts working for everyone, from planning tonight’s fuel to getting neighbourhoods ready for the grid Lebanon is rebuilding.