Despite new institutional initiatives, mounting fiscal pressure, and growing regional integration efforts, the country’s energy transition remains largely aspirational. A joint committee at the National Oil Corporation (NOC) has been tasked with studying pathways to gas and renewables, while private sector actors are pressing for reforms to unlock solar potential. Yet, chronic overreliance on oil revenues, costly subsidies, and weak governance keep the system locked in inefficiency.
At the same time, Libya’s debts to regional partners such as Egypt underline persistent liquidity and credibility issues. The state continues to spend more on fuel and wage subsidies than on infrastructure and investment combined. Meanwhile, projects such as the South Refinery near Sharara and the localisation drive for oilfield equipment reflect cautious attempts to create a more diversified and self-sufficient energy economy. But progress remains patchy and fragile.
A closer look
Libya’s electricity debts have become a regional symbol of its structural dysfunction. According to Egyptian officials, Tripoli owes around $200 million in unpaid dues for electricity imports—by far the largest share of Cairo’s $320 million total receivables from regional grid partners.
The figure has grown since 2023, even as Libya continues to depend on imported electricity to meet domestic demand. The arrears expose the mismatch between Libya’s short-term spending priorities and its long-term need to invest in domestic generation capacity.
In Tripoli, a Joint Committee for the Transition to Gas and Renewable Energy has begun meeting under the auspices of the NOC, Brega Oil Marketing Company, General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL), and the Renewable Energy Authority of Libya (REAoL).
The committee’s mandate includes quantifying the cost of liquid fuels used in power generation, comparing it to natural gas, and assessing options for solar power deployment. Although modest in scope, the initiative signals an awareness within the state apparatus that fuel substitution and efficiency gains are essential to curb waste and stabilise supply.
The NOC sees the effort as part of a wider energy-cost rationalisation strategy that could eventually free more hydrocarbons for export by deploying solar power in fields.
Go deeper
For now, however, Libya remains one of the world’s lowest renewable energy producers, with renewables accounting for less than 1% of total electricity generation – which means that the state and private actors will need to double down on their efforts if they want to reach the 20% target by 2035.
