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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 27 July 2013:
Asked if there was a role for renewable energy in helping solve the power cuts currently . . .[restrict]hitting north western and southern Libya, Electricity Minister Ali Muhairig said not in the very short term.
Muhairig, answering questions at last week’s press conference, said that the demand for electricity in Libya was over 6,000 MW and that renewable energy’s contribution was at best going to be about 54 MW.
This is too little, in the very short term to solve the current peak summer time demand, he added.
However, he did reveal that there was a 14 MW renewable energy project starting operation in Houn soon and a 40 MW project starting in Sabha.
When the electricity supply is stabilized, he said, then we can move on to renewables, he added.
The Minister, nevertheless, stressed that Libya had huge potential in this field, but it needed billions’ worth of investment.
He speculated that the Libyan public budget might not in the short term be able to fulfill this need for investment, and that foreign investors were ready to participate. [/restrict]
