Libya is close to issuing tenders for two new solar plants and aims to get a fifth of its power from renewable sources by 2020. Until now, Libya has relied almost entirely on its oil and gas reserves for its energy needs.

“In 20 to 30 years Libya may run out of oil, therefore we plan to replace it with renewables … My projection is 20 percent (renewable electricity) by 2020, mainly through solar energy…I think if we just used less than 5 percent of the Libyan desert, annually (sic) it could power the whole of Europe,” Electricity Minister Ali Mohammed Muhairiq told a Brussels conference on sustainable energy on Thursday.

He said Libya also planned to set up an electricity regulatory authority by the end of the year. The country is still rebuilding infrastructure and institutions as it recovers from civil war.

The European Commission has backed the idea of working with North African nations to develop their vast wind and solar potential and eventually connect it to the European grid. It has given support to Desertec, a German consortium set up in 2009, which envisages Europe will import up to a fifth of its electricity from solar and wind parks in North Africa and the Middle East by 2050.

Algeria was also represented at Thursday's conference and officials say it is aiming for ambitious levels of renewable power. Noureddine Boutarfa, CEO of Algeria's state-owned utility Sonelgaz, said the country aspired to get 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, chiefly solar, by 2030.

Libya and Algeria are relatively small oil producers but even the biggest, Saudi Arabia, is developing solar power. Renewable energy can help the country maximise its lucrative oil exports by reducing the amount of oil it burns domestically to generate electricity.

(Source: Reuters)