Performance Evaluation of The Blackout and Power Outages in Libyan Power Grid - Al-Zawia Combined Cycle Power Plant Case Study

Increasing electrical energy demand in modern lifestyle has made the world fully dependent on power systems. Therefore, secure the electric energy to homes, factories, hospitals, and to all government foundations is a strong need. In the last seven years, several major blackouts and outages were reported in the power system grid of all cities in western Libya. This paper aims to present the evaluate the operation of Al-Zawia Combined Cycle Power Plant “Al-Zawia CCPP” throughout the period of blackout to find out the main reasons behind the blackouts and outages. Also the suitable solutions of them are proposed. The research is done based on the data that collected from history of the recorded data in Al-Zawia CCPP. The collected data shows the amount of energy produced from Al-Zawia CCPP, the energy consumed by the customers, and the amount of power shortage. For full power conditions, the Al-Zawia CCPP should work with nine generating units. However, the results of the study show the inability of the Al-Zawia CCPP to operate with full power conditions, because three generators at least are out of service.