Power plant contracts in Libya worth 5 bln USD: official

TRIPOLI, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The total value of contracts for power plant projects in Libya is seven billion dinars (5 billion U.S. dollars), an official of the state-owned General Electricity Company said.

"The power plant construction contracts Libya signed with a number of foreign companies worth seven billion dinars. This amount represents contracts signed before 2011, as well as emergency projects signed by the company during the past few months," Ali Sasi, executive director of the General Electricity Company, told Xinhua on Thursday.

"Payments have been made for foreign companies executing a number of previous projects, while the new projects have not been funded until security and technical arrangement are made for companies to come to Libya and work on implementation of the new plants," Sasi added.

Sasi pointed out that there are projects being implemented in different parts of the country, including Sirte, Tripoli, Zwitina, and Obari, with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts.

"If previous projects, which were supposed to be completed in 2015, were implemented, the public network would have increased by 4,000 megawatts, which means the end of any power deficit and even a large surplus," Sassi explained.

The General Electricity Company signed an agreement with Germany's Siemens in August 2017 to implement power in the country.

Most Libyan cities suffer daily power blackouts that last for as long as 12 hours, especially during the winter and summer. The power deficit exceeds 2,000 megawatts per day, while current power production does not exceed 5,500 megawatts per day.

Sasi said that power sector in Libya lost 1.5 billion dinars (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) over the past seven years. He also pointed out that the kidnapping of foreign workers at the southern Obari power plant "delayed the return of some companies, especially from South Korea."

Sasi noted final discussions will be held in mid-January with South Korea for the return of its companies to Libya.

Unknown gunmen kidnapped four foreign workers, three Turks and one German, working at a power plant in the southern city of Obari. After security agencies failed to free the workers, the remaining 300 foreign workers left Obari. Enditem