Construction Begins on 500 MW Solar Power Project in Libya

French renewable energy developer TotalEnergies, the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) and the Renewable Energy Authority of Libya (REAoL) have announced the launch of a 500 MW Sadada solar power project at a site ceremony about 280 km from Tripoli.

TotalEnergies had signed a MoU with GECOL this May that also included the construction of solar energy projects across North Africa and the 500 MW Al-Sadada power project was a part of the agreement.

Wiam Al-Abdali, Chairman of GECOL, held that the Al-Sadada power project is set to become the first and the largest project in Libya, producing about 152 TWh annually.  The project will also host the latest technological applications and will employ about 1.2 million solar panels towards this end.

TotalEnergies, GECOL and REAoL at the launch of Al-Sadada 500 MW solar project Pic courtesy: Libya Herald

Abdul Salam Al-Ansari, who heads REAoL, said that his company will be committed to the implementation of Libya’s strategic plan with regards to renewable energy and aspires to contribute 25 per cent energy from renewable sources. He added that REAoL will be working to heighten the renewable energy contribution to Libya’s energy mix and collaborate with other agencies and sectors of the economy to spread the culture of employing technologies related to renewable energy.

The Regional Director for the Middle East TotalEnergies said that the solar power project is first in the line of projects that will come up in all regions of Libya to augment the power generation capacity of the country. The first-of-its-kind solar project in Libya will be implemented to integrate the electrical capacities produced from renewable energy sources into the electrical network.

Libya aspires to have 22 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2030. In November 2021, TotalEnergies had inked two agreements with the Libyan government and GECOL for the development of solar power projects. The company is also collaborating with Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) to construct some key renewable energy projects. These will include solar power supply systems for the hospitals and education facilities.