Abu Dhabi's Al Maskari Holding is behind a US$3 billion (Dh11bn) project to build an integrated "energy hub" in Libya to supply the domestic power market and export electricity to Europe.
The project will include solar power as well as conventional electricity generation from fuels such as natural gas, and a high-voltage undersea transmission line from Libya to southern Italy.
An agreement for the project was signed in Tripoli on December 12, said Sirajeldean Elbadri, an official with the chairman's office of the Libyan general board of privatisation and investment.
Mr Elbadri, who has been closely involved in recent bilateral investment discussions between Libya and the UAE, said he had been
given responsibility for translating the English version of the contract into Arabic.
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"Libya is a source for clean energy. We can export energy to all of Europe. When Russia does not send gas, we hope we can send this energy to Europe by having cables under the sea from the north of Libya to the south of Europe," Jamal Ellamushe, the Libyan minister of privatisation and investment, told an investment forum in Abu Dhabi today.
Sheikha Aisha al Maskari, the chair of the family-owned Al Maskari Holding, said the group was interested in investing in all sectors of Libya's energy industry, including solar energy. Al Maskari's current involvement in renewable energy development included a project with the Norwegian government, she said.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
