By Sami Zaptia.
London, 17 June 2021:
National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanalla met on Monday at the Corporation’s Tripoli headquarters a delegation of southern House of Representatives members and their accompanying delegation.
The NOC reports that several topics were discussed during the meeting, most notably the topic of the Ubari power plant and the appropriate fuel options, as well as the importance of aggressively entering into the use of renewable energies to generate electricity and instead of using hydrocarbon fuels locally benefitting from their hard currency oil revenues to support the economy.
The meeting also discussed the importance of implementing the project to establish a unit for extracting cooking gas from the Sharara field flare to provide cooking gas and completely solve this bottleneck in the south.
Several other topics related to the NOC’s activity and directly affecting the life of the citizen were discussed, including the importance of ensuring the continuation of the flow of fuel, and the launch of small and medium-sized projects programmes in the south to accommodate young entrepreneurs and create work opportunities and other topics to stimulate the private sector.
Libya can be advanced in renewables – with leading energy giants
“Libya enjoys several advantages that help it occupy an advanced position among the countries of the world in the use of renewable energies and solar energy in particular, as Libya enjoys a high level of sunshine throughout the year’’, Said NOC chairman Sanalla.
Sanalla added that the NOC benefits from a distinguished partnership relationship with ‘‘major energy companies such as the French Total, the Italian Eni and the Spanish Repsol, and the capacity and vast experience these companies have in the field of renewable energies and the possibility of implementing major projects to generate electricity from solar energy.’’
This can be within an investment framework and a partnership between these companies and the NOC or with other state institutions concerned with energy matters.
The implementation of such projects will be a qualitative leap in the field of energy and a great supporter of the national economy.’’
Sanalla also stressed ‘‘the importance of this trend from an environmental point of view as well and keeping pace with international efforts to reduce emissions, especially after Libya recently signed agreement the Paris Climate agreement.”
Sharara gas flare project can be completed in 18 months
The head of the NOC added, “With regard to the issue of extracting cooking gas from the Sharara field flare, this project has been studied by the Corporation and only needs funding by the state to start implementation as soon as possible and for a period not exceeding 18 months only, provided that appropriate security conditions are available to encourage companies to come. and contractors to work in the area.’’
Sustainable SME and training projects
Speaking at the meeting, Mukhtar Abdel-Daem, Director of the NOC’s Sustainable Development Department, stated that the NOC, under the umbrella of sustainable development programmes, will launch a programme for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in the south.
This will start with the launch of an exhibition of SMEs in the south at the beginning of September, in which all young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to present their own projects and develop their capabilities through intensive training programs that provide opportunities for success for their own projects,
He said there will be encouraging and stimulating prizes for the top SME projects, adding that such programmes create real opportunities for spatial development, which will reduce the burden on the public sector in the country, and achieve an economic balance that Libya needs more than ever.
