The Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Al-Sarraj, held a telephone conversation with Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. They discussed the most recent developments in the Libyan crisis, according to a statement published by the Algerian Presidency.
During the call, Al-Sarraj asked Tebboune for urgent help in repairing Tripoli’s main electrical power station. Tebboune immediately ordered the Minister of Energy to form a technical team from the National Electricity and Gas Company of Algeria (Sonelgaz). They are due to go to Tripoli on Thursday, to help repair the plant.
A major oil exporter, Libya once had a strong electricity network. Years of chaos and fighting since the 2011 revolution have wrecked national infrastructure and state institutions. The National Audit Bureau revealed that Libya has lost 2,700 megawatts, out of its original 3,363MW. State power company GECOL spent 1.6 billion dinars last year, without advancing any stalled projects.
GECOL has attempted to manage the blackouts by sharing power supply among different towns in western Libya. A number of cities have refused to accept their cuts, using force to keep electricity running. This in turn causes prolonged outages elsewhere.
Turkey has proposed bringing a floating power station, similar to what its electricity company has installed offshore in other countries.