TotalEnergies Libya to commission 500 MW solar project by year-end

From the newsletter
TotalEnergies Libya announced last week at the Libya Energy & Economic Summit 2025 that it targets to commission the 500 MW Sidada solar plant. This is expected to boost Libya’s renewable uptake as it aims to achieve 4 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2035 even as it targets export markets.

• Libya is one of Africa's largest oil producers with proven crude oil reserves of over 48 billion barrels – roughly 41% of the continent's total reserves. But the country wants to diversify its energy sources to include renewables, which are also available in abundance, particularly solar.

• The country of only about 7 million people has electricity demand projected to reach 21 GW by 2030. Currently, almost 100% of Libya's electricity production depends on oil and gas.

More details

• The country has an installed capacity of 8,200 MW, with the General Electricity Company of Libya projecting peak demand to reach 14,834 MW by 2025 and 21,669 MW by 2030. This increasing demand will require more energy.

• Libya is amongst the African countries with the highest electricity consumption per capita at around 2,000 kWh, more than 10 times that of countries like Kenya and 17 times more than Nigeria.

• The country's location is favourable for solar power generation. It receives an average of 10 sun hours per day. Libya has plans to exploit this potential and export some of the electricity. It plans to use underwater cable projects and export renewable energy to Europe and Malta.   

• Despite its political instability, Libya can harness its revenue from oil and gas exports to reinvest in renewable energy projects. Based on the current market value of oil, it could generate up to $3.5 trillion in revenue which could be used for renewable energy projects. This is assuming the oil is sold at a fixed price of $72/barrel.

• Libya does not have to fully rely on its oil and gas resources but can rely on international companies like TotalEnergies who have the necessary financial capital to build big projects.

• There is potential to also exploit the international electricity market in African countries. Libya belongs to both the East Africa and North Africa power pools. It can generate electricity and sell to these markets. The difference in climatic conditions between the north and south would also provide opportunities for them in periods of scarcity to source cheap power from others.

Our take

• Libya's oil and gas reserves hold the country's hope for a faster transition to renewables. But this will only apply if oil won't be phased out sooner than Libya has exploited it. The transition to electric vehicles also poses a threat to the sector. Oil demand will go down in the future, and this will affect the revenue of countries reliant on them.   

• The best alternative is to utilise the private sector through public-private partnership deals. This also requires more, especially in stable policy and political environment, which currently Libya struggles with.