According to the Libyan General Electric Company, power to all cities in the country has been either completely cut off or severely throttled as they attempt technical updates with Siemens. Their announcement reads below:
”Technical experiments to load one of the new South Tripoli circuits with a capacity of 400 k. In the company of German Siemens Company, specifically in the Janzur area, electricity will be restored immediately after these experiments are over.”
While the initial announcement at 0630 EST seemed hopeful, the company then had to confirm that power nationwide was being impacted by the experiments. It is not currently clear when power will be restored.
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Libyans have been living with daily blackout since the 2011 Arab Spring/ Civil War and the 2014 Second Civil War which resulted in a significant energy deficit. Both sides of the Libyan government have been trying to boost energy production by establishing additional power stations using foreign contractors. Todays blackout seems to be another chapter in that story.
The Libyan General Electric Company is a state-owned utility company, according to their website:
”The Libyan General Electric Company was established according to the law number 17 in the year 1984, which is responsible for the accomplishment of the projects of operating and servicing the electric networks, stations of energy production and their distribution and transformation stations. In addition, the company is responsible for the transformational lines of energy and their distribution, the Electric control centres and the management of the operation and servicing of desalination stations in the whole country. It is also responsible for the establishment and the accomplishment of any projects in the above mentioned area.”
