Another emergency plan to overcome power shortages

Daily News Egypt
2 Min Read

By Salah El-Manoufy

The Ministry of Electricity is currently studying the possibility of implementing a third emergency plan in order to accommodate the high summer loads.

Sources within the Ministry said that Mahmoud Balbaa, Minister of Electricity, tasked a number of his deputies to prepare a study about a third emergency plan. The Ministry will submit the study to the cabinet after the Eid El-Fitr holiday.

The sources added that the Ministry seeks to add 1,500-megawatt hours to the power supply at a cost of $1.5 billion.

The sources indicated two scenarios to finance the plan, the first through government investments and the second through foreign loans.

The government will soon begin work to determine the location for new power stations.

The government has already implemented two emergency power generation plans, the first in the summer of 2011 that added a power station in Damietta and another in Ismailia, adding 1,500 megawatt hours to Egypt’s electrical grid. The government implemented a second emergency plan in 2012, building stations in 6th of October City and Damietta, adding 1,100-megawatt areas.

At the same time, the Minster is following the construction of new plants that are expected to begin operating in 2013. The stations currently under construction are located in Ain Sukhna, Abu Qir, North Giza, and Banha, adding 3,000-megawatt hours to the national network.

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