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Tripoli, 27 April 2012:
The Libyan . . .[restrict]Minister of Electricity, Ibrahim Awad Barasi, his Egyptian counterpart Hassan Younis and the Jordanian Minister of Energy, Qutaiba Abu Qura had held discussions on ways to boost cooperation on electricity supply and generation between the three countries.
During the Energy Forum for Renewable Power held on 23-24 April at the Arab League in Cairo, Barasi met with leaders of the electricity sectors in order to investigate their possible involvement in restructuring the Libyan electricity sector, in renewable energies as well as creating a sector for Electric Utilities and Consumer Protection in Libya.
For his part, Yunis explained that it had been agreed to form a joint committee by three countries to discuss ways to support and strengthen the grid connections between them and increase the electricity supply exchange between the eight countries of the regional electrical power link.
Abu Qura, said discussions showed a strong common desire to increase the electrical capacity through joint electricity connections, thus contributing to the stabilization of the electricity system.
The regional electricity linkage project covers Egypt, Libya, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
At the conference, Barasi stated that “The ministry I head is now called the ‘Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy’ which shows a clear dedication to new sources of energy as well as a clear cut from the past regime’s attitude towards resources,” he said. Libya was now focused on alternative sources of energy, he said.
The Libyan government, he noted, was rebuilding it the power supply networks in Libya and was looking at solar and wind power and other alternative energy sources. New such projects, he said would be in partnership with the private sector.
Unlike the old days were projects were undertaken at the decision of Qaddafi and those around him, new projects would be fully research first. Much of that research, he hoped, would be done by the industrial sector in partnership with regional universities. He supported the growth of renewable energy studies in the universities. [/restrict]
