The Supreme Council for Energy has demanded that the Ministry of Petroleum provide enough natural gas to supply new power stations planned to be completed within the next year. The new stations are being built as Egypt faces a huge electricity supply deficit.
An official source, who requested anonymity, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younis said the Dumyat and al-Shabab power stations will only be offered up to investors after the Ministry of Petroleum agrees to supply them with the necessary natural gas. The source said Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has agreed to this condition.
The source also said the Ministry of Petroleum has agreed to supply a daily 110 million cubic feet of gas to the al-Shabab station, and 112 million cubic feet to the Dumyat station.
Younes relied on a decision by the Supreme Council for Energy last January to increase gas supplies to power stations from 78 to 87 percent as soon as possible. Electricity Ministry spokesperson Aktham Abul Ella explained the additional gas supply was previously agreed upon by Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy, with the target of adding an additional 1000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid to overcome the current electricity crisis.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
