Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker said energy prices will be raised in July when the government applies the second phase of its plan to reduce energy subsidies over five years to LE9 billion to be directed to deserving citizens and energy-intensive strategic industries.
The minister also said that 4,000 megawatts will be added to the national grid before the summer, to be raised to 6,400 megawatts by the end of the year. “We are working on reducing power outages,” he said.
“The huge demand for energy is an opportunity for investors to invest in power stations,” he said, adding that a global Chinese company is improving the national network.
He said the ministry is studying the possibility of increasing the storage capacity of power stations to reach international averages. “We have assigned a major company to raise the efficiency of six power generation stations,” he added.
“We are also building four coal-operated stations near ports on the Red Sea to facilitate the transfer of imported coal directly to them,” he said.
He said the nuclear plant will provide power at cheap prices, adding that the government is negotiating with the United States, France, Russia and China to carry out this project.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
