While Libya is a leading oil and gas producer in Africa, it has faced a power production deficit for several years, though the gap was beginning to narrow in the second half of 2022. In August 2022 the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) reported a shortage of 3200 MW in July, with production capacity ranging between 5100 and 5300 MW and demand at 8480 MW.
In June 2022 GECOL linked the power transformer for the first unit of the Misrata Fast Track power station project, ahead of its connection to the grid later that month. The unit is designed to provide 325 MW of additional capacity to the national network. The second unit started operating in July, adding another 325 MW of installed capacity, in an effort to meet growing demand and reduce power cuts.
In March 2023 GECOL announced that the country’s total installed generation capacity had risen to a record 8200 MW, bypassing the prior high of 6000 MW. The power company forecasts that Libya’s peak load will increase to 14,834 MW by 2025 and to 21,669 MW by 2030.
Combined-cycle power plants in Misrata (650 MW) and Tripoli (671 MW) are contributing to increased generation capacity. Progress continues to be made in expanding generation capacity through building traditional power plants, and in early March 2023 a $790m construction deal with South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction was announced that will see two gas-fired power plants built in the Mellitah and Misrata regions.
In addition to expanding domestic generation capacity, many countries in North Africa and the Middle East are taking steps to expand electrical grid interconnections with neighbours to allow for electricity sharing.
The electric grid interconnection between Libya and Egypt – one of Libya’s primary suppliers of electricity – begins at Wadi El Natrun and 6th of October in Egypt and continues along the North Coast to Marsa Matrouh, ending in Tobruk. In early 2022 Egypt’s minister of electricity and renewable energy stated that this interconnection would be increased to handle up to 2000 MW of capacity.
Read More from OBG
