Libya has been experiencing one of its worst blackouts, with protesters burning tires and shutting down telecommunications towers frustrated with the sustained power cuts.
The oil rich country has three rival factions that are engaged in an intense political deadlock— the United Nations backed Government of National Accord, the Tobruk parliament in east Libya, and the Government of National Salvation in Tripoli.
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Libyans, in the west where the capital Tripoli is and the south, have been off the grid for weeks with sporadic hours of electricity.
Yet, two hospitals in Tripoli are surviving on solar energy. The newly installed panels, part of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project, have come at a time when Libyan patients sorely need access to medical services.
“Our primary objective is life-saving. Introducing clean and environment friendly technology to keep hospitals up and running with no interruptions,” Noura Hamladji, UNDP Libya director, told Motherboard via email. “This off grid solution is working 24 hours a day.”
In Abusleem hospital, one of the piloted hospitals in Tripoli, most of the power has been harnessed towards heating the wards.
“The capacity for each hospital is between 12-16 kilowatts and the system is modular which means it can be upgraded to tens of times of its capacity” Hamladji added.
Read the rest of this article on Motherboard.
