The General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) confirmed today that one of the reasons the Zawia power station is not operating is the fact that GE engineers were forced to hastily leave Libya for 9 days due to the 7 May militia clashes near the power station.
The revelation was confirmed in a status update letter dated yesterday from GE’s subsidiary (GE Vernova) to GECOL.
Listing the reasons for the delay in bringing the Zawia power station online, GE said
‘‘Following the issuance of the operative Letter of Credit and the availability of funding on 30 March 2026, GE Verona mobilized its teams and officially commenced the outage on 25 April 2026, in accordance with the agreed execution schedule.
The original scheduled completion date for the output was 6 July 2026.
While substantial progress has been achieved across both workstreams, several unforeseen circumstances impacted on the overall execution schedule.
GE listed the four as the security situation, the lack of availability of an overhead crane, late delivery of parts to the site, and late commissioning by GE.
Security clashes near Zaia power station
Regarding the security situation, GE stated in the letter that ‘‘On May 7, 2026, due to the prevailing security situation in the region, GE Vernova was instructed to immediately evacuate all personnel from Zawiya Power Plant to ensure the safety of our employees and contractors. Site activities remained suspended until 16 May 2026, when it was deemed safe to resume operations. This interruption resulted in a suspension of critical outage activities, directly impacting the overall execution schedule.
Commissioning Phase
Regarding the commissioning phase, GE stated in its letter that ‘‘The project has now reached the commissioning phase of the Gas Turbine, which represents the final stage of the output before synchronization and return of the unit to the national grid.
During this commissioning phase, GE Vernova has encountered technical challenges associated with the integration and commissioning of the upgraded control and electrical systems. Resolving these technical issues has required additional engineering effort and has extended the commissioning period beyond the original schedule.
We acknowledge that this portion of the schedule delay is attributable to GE Vernova.
We fully recognize the impact this has had on the planned return of GT13 to service and take full responsibility for resolving the remaining technical issues.
To accelerate completion, GE Vernova has mobilized additional engineering expertise and technical resources, both on-site and through remote support from our global engineering teams.
Our specialists are working continuously to complete the remaining commissioning activities, resolve all outstanding technical issues, and safely synchronize GT13 to the national grid at the earliest achievable opportunity while maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety, and reliability.
GE Vernova remains fully committed to the successful completion of this strategically important project and to deliver a fully modernized and reliable generating unit that will support Libya’s electrical network for many years to come.’’
Demonstrations and civil disobedience action to dislodge the Tripoli government
It will be recalled that Libya has been experiencing very hot summers and lengthy power cuts and blackouts .
These have led to demonstrators and activists that have barricaded roads with rubble and burning tyres as well as welded shut gates to state and government buildings over the last two weeks.
The demonstrators also stormed the Mellitah Gas Complex and temporarily halted gas exports across the GreenStream pipeline to Italy.
The demonstrations ostensibly started their protest objecting to lengthening power cuts and blackouts – but morphed their demonstrations into calls for the downfall of the government and ruling state institutions.
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