Egypt’s power consumption reached 29,000 megawatts (MW) through the August heatwave that killed more than 190 persons, a presidential spokesperson said in a statement Saturday. The statement was released following a meeting between President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker.
The minster said the total power consumption exceeded regular consumption by 5,000 MW, the statement added.
Power cuts have become frequent in recent years but were generally confined to summer months when air conditioning use increases the demand for power. But in winter 2012/13, blackouts during cold weather became common.
In July 2014, the government raised household electricity prices in an effort to reduce consumption.
The statement added that Shaker vowed to al-Sisi to seal by the end of this month new contracts and deals for raising the efficiency of the power generation process.
In June, Egypt sealed a eight billion Euro deal with German power company Siemens, which will be establishing three natural gas-fired power plants expected to boost Egypt’s power generation by 50 percent.
Source: Ahram Online
