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Walking on any commercial street in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, the sidewalk will be full of generators, ready to start when the mains power fails.
In the ten years since NATO supported the overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi, repeated fighting has caused severe damage to the distribution network, and there has been little new investment in power generation.
On most days, the residents of Tripoli expect that the main supply will be cut several times, for a total of 12 hours a day.
The hum of generators and the pungent fumes of diesel have become the most annoying part of daily life in this once affluent city.
Sufian Zerkani, a 23-year-old pharmacist, said: “We have endured this chaos for the past 10 years…it has had a major impact on our daily lives.” “This is what the country should do. Basic rights guaranteed.”
Keeping the generator fueled has become a daily chore for many people.
At the service station, pedestrians and motorists lined up side by side with generator-equipped funnels and oil drums.
For a country with the largest oil and gas reserves in Africa and a population of only 7 million, this destruction and decline is shocking.
‘Nothing has changed’
The most recent round of fighting ended with a ceasefire supported by the United Nations last year. This paved the way for peace negotiations and the formation of a transitional government before the elections scheduled for December in March this year.
After ten years of hostile governments fighting with the ever-changing support of local militia alliances, a new peace process has brought hope, and there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
But for many people, the promise of restoring peace and normalcy has not come fast enough.
“Nothing has changed—the promises made by governments one after another have never been fulfilled,” said Nader al-Naas, a 25-year-old student.
In the hottest months, the temperature in Tripoli often reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
“This is a catastrophic situation, especially in summer,” al-Naas said.
The situation is even worse for those who cannot buy generators. They sleep outside the roof at night to escape the sultry heat.
A technician repairs a generator in a shop in Tripoli, the capital of Libya [Mahmud Turkia/AFP]The basic generator sells for approximately US$470, but the more reliable model sells for thousands of US dollars.
Last year’s ceasefire was reached after a year-long offensive against Tripoli by hostile governments in the east. At one time, Benghazi and its main city in the east enjoyed a more reliable power supply than Tripoli and the west.
But as the conflict intensified, it was also forced to adapt to the daily work of power outages.
“When there is a power failure, we stop working,” said Ali Wami, a Benghazi mechanic. He pointed to a badly damaged car and said: “I haven’t been able to perform any repairs on that car for a week.”
‘Need a thorough solution’
Osama al-Dalah, a manager of a nearby grocery store, said that the power outage is bad for profits and employees.
He said: “All these power outages make us feel frustrated, frustrated and cost us money.” “We need a complete solution.”
Although the country is sunny, few Libyans have yet to install solar panels as an alternative energy source.
Decade of decline
In a recent report, the Libyan Audit Office assigned the state-run General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) to handle unfinished projects and investments that “did not benefit the network.”
A GECOL spokesperson said the problem is that the infrastructure “has been rotten for 10 years and needs a lot of maintenance.”
During the failed 2019-20 attack on Tripoli by the traitor military commander Khalifa Haftar’s troops, Hundreds of high-voltage lines serving the capital and its suburbs were destroyed.
In an apartment in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, children study under the light of a candlestick [Mahmud Turkia/AFP]Foreign companies withdrew because of concerns about employee safety, delaying the construction of new power generation capacity. The thief unplugged the power distribution cable to remove the copper wire.
GECOL officials said that 5,000 to 5,500 megawatts of oil and natural gas power plants have much lower power generation than the 7,000 megawatts in winter and 8,000 megawatts in summer.
A German-Turkish consortium is building two new power stations in Tripoli and Misrata, the third city of Libya. They are expected to add 1,300 megawatts of capacity to the grid in the first quarter of next year.
The plan for a third new power station in Tobruk, in the Far East of Libya, is not far behind.
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