Egypt's Minister of Electricity Mohammed Shaker recently announced his country’s readiness to increase the capacity of the electricity interconnection line between Egypt and Libya to up to 450 megawatts (MW) and even more in the near future.

In a statement to Masrawy newspaper March 2, Shaker said, “The power line connecting Egypt and Libya can provide up to 450 MW, and there is a plan to increase such a capacity in the future to 1,000 MW. The current capacity stands at 200 MW.”

Commenting on the connection lines between Egypt and other Arab countries, the minister stated that there is power interconnection with Libya, Jordan and Sudan. He noted that the interconnection with Iraq will go through Jordan since there is no direct power connection line between Egypt and Iraq.

Ayman Hamza, spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, told Al-Monitor that Libya requested Egypt increases electricity exports to Libya in early 2021. The ministry expressed willingness to do so in light of the large power capacity available in Egypt thanks to the electricity projects implemented in Egypt over the past years, he said.