Libya's First Solar Plant, in the Sahara

Kufra is a remote oasis town in Libya's south-east, far from the coastal grid, historically powered by diesel trucked across the desert through a country that has had almost no functioning central electricity planning since 2011. In 2025 it became the site of Libya's first solar power plant — built in eight months by Infinity Libya with Touch Company — a 1MW installation producing around 2,182 MWh a year, enough for between 500 and 1,000 households. For a state holding Africa's largest proven oil reserves and burning its own crude to keep the lights on, it is a small plant with a large amount of symbolism attached. A national programme now targets 4GW of solar by 2035, including a 500MW plant at Sadada and rooftop schemes totalling 500MW.