Policy Brief

APRIL 2020

Tripoli’s Electricity Crisis

and its Politicisation

Y. Abulkher
As springtime temperatures rise, the Libyan capital area of Tripoli heads into a new
season of longer electricity outages. This year, a blockade imposed by pro-LNA
factions on all crude-oil extraction in protest of the GNA-backed Turkish intervention
may exacerbate the electricity crisis even further compared to previous years. Indeed,
some power plants require fuel to operate at a time when domestic refineries are
shuttered and imports become subject to stricter budget limitations. Moreover,
reduction in economic activity due to Covid-19-related measures may prove
insufficient to yield appreciable relief on the households’ front. Against 2020’s unusual
backdrop, this policy brief dissects the main dynamics of the nine-year-long electricity
crisis affecting Tripoli. In doing so, it provides an overview of how the crisis has been
politicized, exploited and exacerbated by Libya’s civil war and illicit economy actors.

Introduction

Since April 2019, Libya’s civil war – between pandemic causes a reduction in electricity
the internationally-recognised Government consumption by industries and businesses,
of National Accord (GNA) and the eastern- the risk of long outages remains. Moreover,
based Libyan National Army (LNA) – has the almost-complete blockade on oil exports
worsened living conditions in the capital, since mid-January, imposed by pro-LNA
Tripoli. The electricity infrastructure has factions in protest against the GNA-backed
been one of the collateral victims of Turkish intervention, is likely to create
Libya’s conflict while, in general, public severe shortages of diesel and other refined
assets and their maintenance have been products needed to run some of greater
neglected for years. This policy brief looks Tripoli’s power plants.
at the electricity crisis affecting the greater
Tripoli area, where the mismanagement, Tripoli’s electricity crisis has its roots in
exploitation and politicisation of Libya’s infrastructural deficiencies resulting from
third-largest industrial sector has had the halt of development projects and
serious consequences for the safety of its direct and indirect attacks on electricity
citizens and the country’s economy. installations. It affects a considerable
portion of the industry and has links with
At this time of year, power outages are illicit activities. This document begins by
relatively tolerable in Libya. Going into the providing an overview of the infrastructural
summer, however, temperatures will rise and and administrative weaknesses leading to
blackouts will last longer and become more the crisis. It then shows how the crisis is
frequent. Even if the lockdown currently linked to the conflict per se and analyses
in place in connection with the Covid-19 how it is exacerbated by various actors. It
 Clingendael Policy Brief

also refers to a parallel and associated maximum consumption of 7,500 MW.2

health and environmental crisis due to the With consumption projected to double to
piles of rubbish that have accumulated 15,000 MW within the next 10 years, these
since the beginning of the civil war in April stagnant production levels are expected to
2019, before concluding and providing cause an irreversible failure nationwide.3
recommendations. Power outages in Tripoli typically last five
hours per day during spring and autumn
and for up to 40 hours at a time in the peak
An Overview of the summer and winter months. This results in
Infrastructural and drastically reduced productivity and revenue,
the death of newborn babies in hospital
Administrative Deficiencies incubators,4 the spread of respiratory
difficulties attributable to ubiquitous power-
Libya’s electricity infrastructure has generator smoke, and the undermining
been in decline since the 1990s, when of morale among the capital’s citizens.
international sanctions made it difficult for ‘Since 2011, our initial civil and political rights’
Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to hire foreign demands have disintegrated to no more
engineering companies. Between 2004 and than the basic rights to safety, cash liquidity
2010, Tripoli became less isolated and its and electricity,’ said one Tripoli resident in
finances improved. However, the Libyan an interview. GECOL adopts a programme
authorities did not seize the opportunity of power load shedding, i.e. rationing
to carry out the drastic overhaul that power outage hours in a manner that is
the country’s electricity grid needed. proportionate to electricity consumption
By February 2011, Libya had entered a per area. However, Tripoli – home to over
period of uncertainty, fragmentation and half the country’s permanent and displaced
conflict, which is ongoing. population – bears the overwhelming and
often sole share of power load shedding
Many components of Libya’s infrastructure, in the entire western region. The cities
including its electricity grid, have received of Janzour and Tajoura, on the outskirts
minimal maintenance for decades. of Tripoli, refuse to fully take part in the
They have also been damaged by the programme, and cities such as Zawiya,
various bouts of warfighting. What is more, Misrata and those in the western mountains
hardly any development projects were often take no responsibility for alleviating
undertaken to compensate for damage the nationwide power crisis.
to the sector and increasing demand due
to the refusal of foreign contractors to
operate in Libya’s security environment,
especially since the abduction of Turkish
electrical engineers in 2017.1 According
to the General Electrical Company of
Libya (GECOL), Libya’s public electricity
monopoly, there is a power deficiency of 2 See GECOL Daily Power Load Updates https://
approximately 25 per cent – with production www.gecol.ly/GECOL_LY/DetailsControl.aspx;
averaging 5,800 megawatts (MW) against Cousins, M. (23 October 2019) Candid Assessment
of Libyan Energy Sector at Tunis Forum. Online:
https://www.libyaherald.com/2019/10/23/candid-
assessment-of-libyan-energy-sector-at-tunis-
forum/.
3 Gecol (19 January 2018) Report on the Main
Questions around Libya’s Electricity Crisis Solutions.
Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-
1 Reuters (24 June 2018) Three kidnapped Turkish r6GuRJz5Q.
Engineers Released from Southern Libya. Online: 4 Busayla, M. (14 January 2017) Libya’s Electricity
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya- Crisis… Multiple Reasons and a Continuous
security/three-kidnapped-turkish-engineers- Suffering. Online: https://al-ain.com/article/
released-in-southern-libya-idUSKBN1JK02G. electricity-libya-crisis-interruption.

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Figure 1 Average power load shedding hours (2019)

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Tripoli Misrata

Over and above illegal power connections, public infrastructure weaknesses in the

theft of copper wires, sabotage of politics of the ongoing civil war – through
transmission towers and destruction of two main mechanisms. First, power
power stations by petty criminals and armed generator dealers and other profiteers
groups, institutional corruption is a major recognised that they could exploit the
contributor to the crisis. The Libyan Audit continuing crisis by selling alternatives to
Bureau has accused GECOL – which has public electricity and increasing the price
received approximately 8 billion Libyan of diesel in the black market. Since 2011,
dinars (€5.1 billion) over the past eight household and commercial electricity
years – of serious administrative negligence generators, often of a much poorer
and operational mismanagement estimated quality than advertised, have flooded
to have reduced output capacity by more the country, promoted via sponsored
than a half.5 social media advertisements by dealers
with access to foreign currency. Several
testimonials collected in interviews point
Engulfment in the Illicit to the involvement of illicit economic
and War Economies actors attacking energy infrastructure or
control room operators in Tripoli, leading
to outages until generator stocks are sold
Infrastructural and administrative out. Because the generator market is so
deficiencies aside, the Tripoli electricity lucrative, and because most generators run
crisis is a prime example of the gradual, off diesel, diesel is often removed from fuel
and often accidental, exploitation of stations to private warehouses – mostly in
Libya’s western coastal region and during
the peak consumption months – where it
is sold on the black market at 12 times the
5 See Libyan Audit Bureau Report 2017, official rate.
pp. 797-811 (2017) http://audit.gov.ly/home/
pdf/LABR-2017.pdf; Libyan Audit Bureau
The second mechanism has been the
Report 2015 in English, pp. 291-299 (2015)
http://audit.gov.ly/home/pdf/EN-LABR-2015.
control or disruption of the power supply
pdf; Sada News (1 October 2019) Audit Bureau for leverage, protest, retaliation or the
reveals Negligence of Stations and Resource exertion of influence. Outside of Tripoli,
Mismanagement at GECOL. Online: https://sada. stronghold districts and cities that are
ly/2019/10/01/‫للمحطا‬-‫إهامل‬-‫وجود‬-‫يكشف‬-‫املحاسبة‬-‫ديوان‬/ . far less militarily fragmented than the

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 Clingendael Policy Brief

capital refuse to pick up any power load The Electricity Crisis in Light of
shedding hours, often by force.6 A recurring the Ongoing War in Tripoli
source of disruption comes from the city of
Zawiya, where in 2017 gas gauges from its
power station were closed in protest at the With regards to LNA-controlled eastern
kidnapping of local people in Wersheffana. Libya – which has its own parallel GECOL –
This resulted in a total blackout and the it is important to clarify that the inoperative
nationwide electricity network being interconnection supply lines between west
compromised.7 Last July, armed groups from and east have prevented the politicisation
the city cut off the south’s power supply, to of electricity resources between the divided
which southern armed groups retaliated by regions.11 However, the LNA’s advance
forcing the Libyan Man-made River Authority on Tripoli since April 2019 has rendered
to disrupt the water supply to western and the electricity supply vulnerable to both
central Libya for weeks.8 Subsequently, warring camps.
control of the power supply is influential on
the premise that it offers an opportunity for The early months of the LNA offensive
patronage,9 as was true for the commander on Tripoli saw few to no power outages
of the Abu Slim force in central Tripoli. due in part to low demand but also,
For years he threatened the nearby control possibly, to the GNA’s short-lived policy
rooms against administering any (high) of public appeasement, which included,
power outages in the district.10 This made for example, the timely payment of public
him popular with local residents and gave wages. The GNA is regularly criticised
him legitimacy, despite public consensus for its neglect of and failure to provide
against irregular armed groups in the capital. public services in Tripoli, which many view
as contributing to the electricity crisis.
Residents note that power load shedding
tends to disappear every year on 17 February,
when the revolution is celebrated, despite
there being high demand as it is one of
the coldest months. They also note that
power load shedding tends to spike to
prevent the public from acceding certain
6 Alarabiya (17 January 2017) Libya drowning in news or developments, such as the LNA’s
Darkness due to Collapse of Electricity Grid. “zero-hour declaration” in December 2019
Online: https://www.alarabiya.net/ar/north- which coincided with a blackout. Despite
africa/2017/01/15/‫الكهرباء‬-‫شبكات‬-‫النهيار‬-‫الظالم‬-‫يف‬-‫غارقة‬-‫ليبيا‬#. the circumstantial nature of the above
7 Remarks of SRSG Ghassan Salame to the United observations, more substantiated sources
Nations Security Council on the Situation in
point towards the GNA’s local armed allies
Libya (29 July 2019) https://unsmil.unmissions.
aggravating the crisis in order to punish
org/remarks-srsg-ghassan-salam%C3%A9-
united-nations-security-council-situation-libya-
Tripoli’s citizens for their support for the
29-july-2019; Busayla, M. (14 January 2017) LNA12 or their lack of participation against
Libya’s Electricity Crisis… Multiple Reasons and a the LNA’s advance. GECOL’s top officials
Continuous Suffering. Online: https://al-ain.com/ have admitted, most recently at a press
article/electricity-libya-crisis-interruption. conference in July 2019, that equal load
8 Hadiya, Z. (15 July 2019) A Different Kind of War shedding hours between cities could not be
between Libyan Regions… Water for Electricity. instituted because of armed interventions
Online: https://www.independentarabia.com/
node/41446/-‫املناطق‬-‫بني‬-‫آخر‬-‫نوع‬-‫من‬-‫حرب‬/‫العريب‬-‫العامل‬/‫األخبار‬
‫الكهرباء‬-‫مقابل‬-‫املاء‬-‫الليبية‬.
9 Ghubara, A.(18 August 2018) Electricity… A Major 11 Alraed Channel (2 February 2016) Special Coverage:
Libyan Dilemma. Online: https://www.afrigatenews. Libya’s Electricity Sector’s Reality, Challenges
net/article/‫كربى‬-‫ليبية‬-‫معضلة‬-‫الكهرباء‬/. and Future. Online: https://www.youtube.com/
10 Libya Bahi (20 July 2018) Two Dead in the watch?v=nhlI3G4pj1E.
Ranks of Protestors over the Blackout in Tripoli. 12 Alwasat (4 August 2019) Three Power Stations
Online: http://www.libyabahi.com/index. raided in Tripoli. Online: alwasat.ly/news/
php?s=news&id=32721. libya/253340.

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 Clingendael Policy Brief

that it refused to name, stating only that its in a nearby temporary landfill.16 This has
operators and units are attacked on average been disrupting a network supply of 400
four times a day.13 MW.17 Due to its dense population, which
keeps being displaced further inwards by
The increased power outages in the summer the conflict, the capital generates up to
of 2019 could also have been in the GNA’s 3,000 tons of waste per day.18 Theoretically,
favour in terms of local support, since the waste management in Tripoli is conducted
heavy fighting in southern Tripoli resulted in stages by public cleaning companies
in serious damage to many transmission under the auspices of the Ministry of Local
towers and supply lines, preventing GECOL Governance. Waste is collected in trucks
engineers from accessing the conflict zone from residential, commercial and industrial
for maintenance.14 Moreover, the hostilities areas to transitory sites in the city until their
forced the departure of three foreign final transportation to the main landfill of Sidi
technical teams that were renovating Al-Sayeh, 50 km south of the city.19 However,
generation units in southern Tripoli.15 GNA- rubbish collection services in the capital
supporting media outlets attribute all these have ceased since the LNA’s advance in April
losses to the LNA. Subsequently, worsening 2019. In the summer of 2019, the main landfill
living conditions and the displacement of came under LNA control in an inaccessible
hundreds of thousands of families due to conflict area, rendering it out of reach.20
the fighting has reinforced local support for
the GNA. Since the municipalities halted waste
collection services,21 households and
businesses have been forced to dump their
The Parallel Crisis of
Uncollected Rubbish
16 Alwasat (2 February 2020) South Tripoli Electricity
Station Suspended due to Burnt Rubbish. Online:
The electricity crisis appears to be mutually
http://alwasat.ly/news/libya/272065; Assad, A.
reinforcing a parallel rubbish crisis in Tripoli. (8 February 2020) Libya’s Electricity company
According to GECOL, the Southern Tripoli Resumes Operations of South Tripoli Power Plant.
Electricity Station, in the south-west of the Online: https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/libyas-
city under GNA control, has been repeatedly electricity-company-resumes-operations-south-
breaking down due to its turbines becoming tripoli-power-plant.
blocked by the smoke from burning waste 17 Alwasat (2 February 2020) South Tripoli Electricity
Station Suspended due to Burnt Rubbish. Online:
http://alwasat.ly/news/libya/272065.
18 Zaptia, S. (9 October 2019) Tajura Waste Recycling
Project Launched. Online: https://www.libyaherald.
com/2019/10/09/tajura-waste-recycling-project-
launched/.
13 Aljazeera (14 July 2019) GECOL Press Conference 19 Asharq Al-Awsat (3 October 2019) As Libya’s
on the Electricity Crisis. Online: https://www. War Drags on, Tripoli Drowns in Waste. Online:
youtube.com/watch?v=X4XT5P54yMo. https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1929946/
14 Middle East Online (30 May 2019) Tripoli Residents libyas-war-drags-tripoli-drowns-waste; Lewis A.
Torn Between the Hell of Conflict and the Flames (15 October 2019) War means Mountains of Garbage
of a Summer without Electricity. Online: https:// in Tripoli’s Streets. Online: https://www.reuters.
middle-east-online.com/-‫جحيم‬-‫بني‬-‫ط رابلس‬-‫سكان‬-‫مخاوف‬ com/article/us-libya-security-rubbish/libyan-
‫كهرباء‬-‫بال‬-‫صيف‬-‫ولهيب‬-‫ ;املعارك‬France 24 (30 May 2019) conflict-leaves-rubbish-mounds-smoldering-in-
War-torn Libya’s Electricians battle to keep the tripolis-streets-idUSKBN1WT1MJ.
Lights on. Online: https://www.france24.com/ 20 UNDP Libya (4 February 2020) New Lenses for Blind
en/20190530-war-torn-libyas-electricians-battle- Solid Waste Areas. Online: https://www.ly.undp.org/
keep-lights. content/libya/en/home/presscenter/articles/2018/
15 218 TV (12 July 2019) Libyan State ‘Responsible’ for blog-New-lenses-for-blind-solid-waste-areas.html.
Electricity Cut-off: General Company for Electricity. 21 Asharq Al-Awsat (3 October 2019) As Libya’s War
Online: https://en.218tv.net/2019/07/12/libyan- Drags on, Tripoli Drowns in Waste. Online: https://
state-responsible-for-electricity-cut-off-general- aawsat.com/english/home/article/1929946/libyas-
company-for-electricity/. war-drags-tripoli-drowns-waste.

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 Clingendael Policy Brief

rubbish on the street and burn it.22 As a and skin conditions,28 while doctors and
temporary solution, the transitory sites were researchers warn of the return of diseases
used as permanent landfills, but to no avail.23 such as cholera and malaria,29 and now the
The inner-city sites in Abu Slim and Suq threat of the Covid-19. Locals have been
al-Juma are small and already operating much more vocal about the rubbish crisis
beyond capacity.24 For about a month at the than they have about the interminable
height of the crisis, one site was closed by and less immediate electricity crisis.
armed groups until the GNA made a pay- Many protests have been organised against
off,25 signifying further exploitation of the municipal decisions to open temporary
crisis. The uncollected rubbish led to the landfills in residential areas.30 One angry
appearance of pop-up landfill sites across demonstrator even aimed his grievance at
the city, the most recent being in the Suq both warring camps: ‘Keep your ministerial
Al-Juma Municipality, close to Mitiga airport portfolios and keep the money, but do find
– Tripoli’s only functional airport.26 The a solution to this garbage crisis because
Ministries of Transport and Local Governance it’s making us sick’.31 Power outages often
have criticised this decision because of disrupt the pumping of water to businesses
its negative consequences for the aviation and households that do not possess rooftop
and service industries in the vicinity.27 water tanks. This could have a profound
This signifies a further deepening of divisions impact on preventative hygiene measures
between central public administration actors against waste in public spaces and the
and decentralised unilateral efforts to tackle Covid-19 pandemic.
the crisis.

Tripoli’s streets, neighbourhoods and Conclusions

even highways are drowning in rubbish,
causing increased threats to public health. Undeniably, technical frailty is the operational
Bad odours, germs and insects are spreading root of the electricity crisis in Tripoli, but
alongside a rise in respiratory illnesses it is exacerbated and perpetuated by
its politicisation as part of the civil war.
As summer approaches, rising temperatures
22 Zaptia, S. (9 October 2019) Tajura Waste Recycling will put greater demand on the electricity
Project Launched. Online: https://www.libyaherald. network. Although the effect of industrial and
com/2019/10/09/tajura-waste-recycling-project- commercial shutdown due to the Covid-19
launched/. pandemic could offset some of the pressure,
23 Libya Al-Ahrar (11 October 2019) Tripoli Garbage hospitals and homes may still not receive
Crisis – Another Face of Hafter’s Aggression. Online: a regular electricity supply. The ongoing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRjnfEXlgu0; January 2020 blockade of oil exports
Lewis, A. (15 October 2019) War means Mountains imposed by pro-LNA factions in protest
of Garbage in Tripoli’s Streets. Online: https://
against the GNA-backed Turkish intervention
www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-
rubbish/libyan-conflict-leaves-rubbish-mounds-
smoldering-in-tripolis-streets-idUSKBN1WT1MJ.
24 Lewis, A. (15 October 2019) War means Mountains 28 Asharq Al-Awsat (3 October 2019) As Libya’s
of Garbage in Tripoli’s Streets. Online: https:// War Drags on, Tripoli Drowns in Waste. Online:
www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security- https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1929946/
rubbish/libyan-conflict-leaves-rubbish-mounds- libyas-war-drags-tripoli-drowns-waste.
smoldering-in-tripolis-streets-idUSKBN1WT1MJ. 29 Aljazeera Media Library (4 November 2019)
25 Naji, K. (28 September 2019) Garbage seizes its Grip Garbage Piling in the Capital’s Streets.
on Tripoli. Online: bit.ly/3dxE1eQ. Online: https://www.youtube.com/
26 Zaptia, S. (9 October 2019) Tajura Waste Recycling watch?v=pDqkZnWi43g.
Project Launched. Online: https://www.libyaherald. 30 Libyan Cloud News Agency (23 January 2020)
com/2019/10/09/tajura-waste-recycling-project- Alsarraj and Alkarama Locals Oppose the
launched/. Establishment of an Interim Landfill. Online: https://
27 Libyan Cloud News Agency (6 February 2020) www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTmKx6O-0d0.
Ministry of Local Governance Undersecretary: We 31 Asharq Al-Awsat (3 October 2019) As Libya’s
Were Surprised by the Establishment of the Interim War Drags on, Tripoli Drowns in Waste. Online:
Landfill in Mitiga Airport. Online: https://www. https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1929946/
youtube.com/watch?v=sqbRpAGOPGs. libyas-war-drags-tripoli-drowns-waste.

6
 Clingendael Policy Brief

could cause even further escalation in the with this reality, the main recommendation is
electricity crisis. As revenues plunge, the for national actors and their foreign backers
fuel needed to operate some power plants to put an immediate end to the escalation
will be harder to come by.32 More generally, of the conflict or to support a humanitarian
weaker public finances mean that even less pause. In isolating the electricity crisis, the
maintenance work will be carried out. following recommendations are offered to
policy actors:
As in many other conflict zones, local armed 1. From a technical perspective, import
actors and profiteers in Tripoli exploit the electricity from neighbouring
weakness of public infrastructure and countries as a viable short-term solution
services. For example, they distribute to prevent the collapse of the electricity
subsidised goods such as cooking gas and network. Algeria and/or Egypt could
wheat at exorbitant prices. At the same time, supply an additional 400 MW to the power
rental prices for displaced families have grid. This option proved successful in
spiked and the already high cost of living in the eastern region.33
the capital continues to rise. 2. The EU and its member states should take
initiatives to deploy European technology
Since the crisis is underreported in and expertise to repair and bolster the
both international and national media, Tripoli area’s electricity infrastructure.
understanding the politicised elements of 3. A drastic solution would be to go green
Libya’s electricity crisis relies to a great by shifting the focus of national
extent on observing the market and conflict production and international aid to
dynamics in the wider context of the civil solar energy. A study by the University
war. What is certain is that the indiscriminate of Nottingham estimated that Libya
imposition of power load shedding hours could harness the equivalent of seven
on the residents of Tripoli, along with the million barrels of oil a day from the sun by
accumulation of rubbish and the impact of covering just 0.1 per cent of its territory
the Covid-19 pandemic, is leading to a health with solar panels,34 which would generate
and environmental crisis. Although Libya’s 250 MW of electricity plus extra for
electricity crisis has many roots – pertaining export.35 The UN Development Programme
to fragile infrastructure, poor administration, has already successfully installed solar
and coercion by non-state actors – lack panels in several Libyan hospitals.36
of security has been the main problem
affecting it. Only when a steady national
security apparatus is restored and armed
attacks on power installations have ceased
will foreign companies return to complete 33 Middle East Online (30 May 2019) Tripoli Residents
Torn Between the Hell of Conflict and the Flames of a
development projects and the power load
Summer without Electricity. Online: https://middle-
shedding system become just.
east-online.com/-‫ولهيب‬-‫املعارك‬-‫جحيم‬-‫بني‬-‫ط رابلس‬-‫سكان‬-‫مخاوف‬
‫كهرباء‬-‫بال‬-‫صيف‬.
34 Alaraby (6 September 2019) Could Solar Power
Recommendations be the Answer to Libya’s Energy Problems?
Online: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/
Tripoli’s electricity crisis existed prior to the indepth/2019/9/6/Developing-solar-power-energy-
current armed conflict, oil blockade, rubbish in-Libya.
crisis and Covid-19 pandemic. As summer 35 Libya 218 (26 June 2019) Power Outages in Libya…
heat returns, the combination of all these An Annual Crisis… Problems and Solutions. Online:
factors increases the probability of a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX6I0c5Mj_Y.
36 UNDP, Boosting Benghazi’s Health Sector: Solar
humanitarian catastrophe. In coming to terms
Energy for Al-Kwayfia Hospital. Online: https://
www.ly.undp.org/content/libya/en/home/stories/
Boosting-Benghazi-Health-Sector-Solar-Energy-
32 Laessing, U. and Lewis, A. (17 January 2020) for-Al-Kwayfia-Hospital.html; Alaraby (6 September
Eastern Libya Halts More than Half the Country’s Oil 2019) Could Solar Power be the Answer to Libya’s
Output. Online: https://www.reuters.com/article/ Energy Problems? Online: https://www.alaraby.
us-libya-oil/eastern-libya-halts-more-than-half- co.uk/english/indepth/2019/9/6/Developing-solar-
the-countrys-oil-output-idUSKBN1ZG2B5/. power-energy-in-Libya.

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About the Clingendael Institute
Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations –
is a leading think tank and academy on international affairs.
Through our analyses, training and public debate we aim to inspire
and equip governments, businesses, and civil society in order to
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About the author

Y. Abulkher, a Tripoli native, is now a PhD candidate based in
the Netherlands and has previously worked for international missions
and public administrations in Libya.