The General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) said that Tripoli and several cities in western Libya suffered a blackout in the early hours of 31 August following a sudden and severe disturbance affecting the western section of the power grid.

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GECOL said that the disturbance started at 1.28 am local time, coinciding with the shutdown of the 400 kV Misrata-Khoms circuits and the Bir Al-Ghanam–Al-Ruwais circuit. It said this caused the grid frequency to fall sharply from 50 Hz to around 47.5 Hz, resulting in a partial blackout.

Preliminary operational data indicates that the sudden loss of the transmission circuits was the immediate cause of the disturbance. GECOL said that determining the exact cause would require a comprehensive technical investigation to establish whether it arose from technical faults, external interference, or deliberate actions.

GECOL said that several substations and transmission circuits have recently been subjected to unauthorised interference. It warned that such practices could force generation units, substations, and transmission circuits out of service.

GECOL engineers and technicians are restoring grid stability while conducting technical investigations to determine the causes of the disturbance.