Libyan residents protest power outages amid severe heatwave

While power interruptions have been common in the past, the situation had improved over the last three years. Similar to neighboring Tunisia, Libya's General Electricity Company is implementing sectoral load shedding, resulting in outages of six to nine hours daily, sometimes twice a day. These power cuts are impacting economic activity, telecommunication networks, and water supply.

A butcher, Anas Al-Deeb, noted the necessity of using generators and increasing refrigeration to prevent goods from spoiling. Despite Libya possessing Africa's most abundant hydrocarbon reserves, its electricity grid suffers from underinvestment and political divisions. Protesters blocked entrances to government offices, ministries, and state-owned companies like the Telecommunications Holding, using garbage and sand.

Images on Facebook showed young people burning tires and blocking roads in central Tripoli, Tajoura, Janzour, and Ain Zara. Water bottling plants have also suspended production due to repeated power cuts and a lack of fuel for backup generators. Tap water in Libya is not potable, and bottled water prices have doubled in less than a week, leading to stock shortages in many Tripoli outlets.

The Dajla factory in Wadi al-Rabii, east of Tripoli, reported "major difficulties impacting the production process" due due to fuel supply issues bu