Large areas of Giza Governorate and other governorates experienced power outages lasting up to 20 hours in some areas – a grueling test for citizens already facing a searing heat wave.
Numerous citizens in Giza complained about the ongoing outages from Saturday until the newspapers went to press on Sunday and their inability to report the outages.
They noted that the “121” service was completely out of service in the governorate during the crisis.
A source from the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy called for a campaign to rationalize electricity consumption, in conjunction with the deployment of emergency teams to fill gaps and faults in the coming months.
The source noted that the ministry is in constant coordination with the Giza Operations Room to monitor the situation moment by moment, assuring that power will be fully restored once loads stabilize and the network succeeds in absorbing current consumption rates.
Outages strike parts of Egypt
Several governorates have experienced repeated power outages.
In Marsa Matrouh, a large number of citizens complained of power outages lasting for long hours, while a source in the electricity company confirmed that the outage was caused by three main transformers being out of service.
Residents in Minya and Port Said complained of frequent power outages while in Qalyubiya, homes in the village of Tarsa, Toukh District, were left without power due to a malfunction in the electrical transformer.
Repairs in progress
Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat inspected repair work on the underground cable in front of the Sakiet Mekki metro station in Giza, which recently caused power outages in several neighborhoods amid the severe heat wave sweeping the country.
Esmat directed the rapid completion of all technical work and ensuring that the cables supplying the Giza areas are restored to service as quickly as possible.
The minister blamed the current heat wave for the unprecedented increase in electrical loads, posing a major challenge to the national grid, which has successfully passed this difficult test.
The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced an increase of 800 megawatts in a single day. The unified electricity grid on Saturday made its highest load increase in history, reaching a record 38,800 megawatts. This compares to the highest load increase last year and this year, which reached 38,000 megawatts, according to reports and monitoring by the National Energy Control Center.
The ministry said in a statement that it had successfully passed a major test it never before faced, and was able to absorb the unprecedented increase in electrical loads and consumption.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
