Explosion hits Libya's Zawiya power plant, disrupting supply

Generation units forced offline

The General Electricity Company of Libya announced on Saturday that an explosion near the Zawiya power plant in western Libya had forced several electricity generation units out of service. The state-owned utility said technical teams had begun work to determine the cause of the blast, which occurred in proximity to the facility and triggered the shutdowns.

Restoration efforts

GECOL stated that investigations were ongoing to establish the technical circumstances surrounding the incident, adding that work was continuing to gradually restore electricity service across the affected areas. The utility apologized to citizens for any power outages or disruptions, noting that teams would continue working until the electricity grid is fully stabilized and expressing hope that power would return to normal levels shortly.

Security context

The explosion came approximately one week after unidentified drone attacks targeted critical infrastructure in Zawiya, including oil storage tanks, desalination facilities and power infrastructure. Those strikes had raised concerns about the city's security, economy and social stability, according to local authorities, and no group has claimed responsibility as investigations continue to identify the source of the drones and those responsible.