Prime Minister: No More Power Cuts from Mid-July Until September

Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly has announced that power cuts across the country will stop in mid-July, with the pause in ‘load shedding’ set to continue for a period of six weeks until the beginning of September.

The news follows a joint statement released by the Ministries of Petroleum and Electricity on Monday, June 24th, announcing theextension of power cuts to three hours daily until the end of this week - Saturday, June 29th. This decision was taken in order to remove excess stress from the country’s power grid during a period of increased domestic electricity consumption, which has come as a result of the continuing heatwave affecting Egypt.

In a further effort to reduce energy consumption, the Prime Minister has also decreed that all shops across the country must close by 10 PM, with the exemption of supermarkets and pharmacies, which will be permitted to remain open until 1 AM.

Load shedding across the country’s electricity network has been increased recently in response to shortages of natural gas used to power much of the grid, combined with the increased demand for electricity following the extended period of extreme temperatures. Amidst the crisis, the government has contracted extra fuel shipments totalling some 300,000 tonnes at a cost of USD 180 million in order to maintain the effective operation of the energy grid.