While Libya is a leading oil and gas producer, it has faced a domestic power production deficit since the end of its second civil war in 2020. The country’s political turmoil and lack of a stable manufacturing industry challenged project EPC contractor ENKA İnşaat and its consortium partner Siemens to complete a 650-MW simple cycle gas power plant in Misurata, one of two projects for client General Electricity Co. of Libya, to restore power in the war-torn nation. The other project is being built near Tripoli.

ENKA assumed many supervisory activities needed to commission the project, since supervisors of international vendors were barred from travel to Libya. The previous Misurata plant was destroyed during the war, and crews worked double shifts to install two Siemens-manufactured turbines on its replacement.

June 2022, the first turbine was connected to the owner’s grid, adding 325 MW of power to the network. The facility’s second unit went into operation in early 2023 to provide the rest. Libya now exports electricity to neighboring countries such as Egypt via interconnects.