Libya's GECOL contracts Egypt's Elmadco to build three power plants worth €100m

Libya's General Electricity Company has contracted Egypt's Elmadco to build three power plants at a combined investment of around €100 million, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Each plant will have a generating capacity of around 220 megawatts, for a combined 660 megawatts across the three facilities, with construction expected to take around 18 months from the contract date. Bahrain's ABC Bank will help finance part of the investment cost, either through direct funding or by issuing guarantee letters for the project.

The plants form part of Libya's plans to add new power-generation capacity, strengthen grid stability and reinforce its generation and transmission network amid rising energy demand.

Separately, Egypt is studying an increase in electricity interconnection capacity with Libya to around 2,000 megawatts through a new 500-kilovolt transmission line, at an estimated investment of 10 billion Egyptian pounds. The two countries are currently linked by an interconnection line used to exchange power, and Egypt resumed electricity exports to Libya this year following widespread disruption to Libya's grid that took a number of power plants and major transmission lines out of service.