The Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry has announced that it did not lower loads on Monday despite high consumption rates, adding that the maximum rate expected on Tuesday is 29,100 megawatts, the highest level of consumption ever seen in Egypt.
The ministry called on citizens to ration consumption in order to avoid power outages.
The ministry said on Tuesday that sudden electricity outages in several parts of Cairo and Giza were due to a malfunction in a transformer at the western Cairo station.
According to the ministry, the glitch was caused by high temperatures which, according to the Health Ministry, killed 30 people. It added that the current was restored gradually 10 minutes after the outage.
Ministry spokesperson Mohamed al-Yamany said the breakdown caused outages in southern Cairo and Giza’s Faisal and Haram districts, as well as a brief halt in subway traffic.
Egypt has seen outages over the past two years during summer due to shortages in fuel needed for the operation of generators in light of surging consumption, but the ministry said recently it had largely resolved the issue and is currently maintaining a surplus of power.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
