The power outage crisis escalated in Egypt today, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, with the number of hours of power cuts increasing in conjunction with rising temperatures.
According to an official statement obtained by the Specialized Energy Platform (based in Washington), the Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum announced an increase in the number of load shedding hours by an additional hour today, Tuesday, to reach 3 hours instead of the two hours that were previously used.
This comes as some preventive maintenance measures in part of the regional gas trading networks coincide with an increase in local electricity consumption rates, as a result of rising temperatures, which requires increasing the duration of load shedding today, Tuesday only, for an additional hour.
The statement stressed that the number of hours increased Electricity cuts in Egypt Today it comes in order to maintain the operational efficiency of the National Electricity Transmission Grid and the National Natural Gas Grid.
Electricity in Egypt
Sources in the electricity sector in Egypt revealed that instructions had been issued to distribution companies to increase load shedding times to 3 hours a day instead of two hours in all regions nationwide, according to what was published by the local newspaper Cairo 24.
Under the directive, electricity cut-off hours in Egypt start from 3 pm Cairo time until 8 pm, distributed into 4 times, each of 3 hours.
Qalyubia was the first governorate to announce an increase in the period of reducing electricity loads by an additional hour, to reach 3 hours, starting today, Tuesday. The time for cutting off electricity will increase by 3 hours for those who were cut off from electricity for two hours, while for those who were cut off from electricity for one hour, it will become only two hours.
The decision to increase the hours of electricity cuts in Egypt comes in conjunction with the state of anticipation for the implementation of the new increases in electricity segments in the bill for next July, which will be collected during August 2024 after the adoption of the application of the new prices.
The Ministry of Electricity in Egypt had approved an increase in the consumption tariff for electricity strips in 2024, last January until June 30, by a rate ranging between 16 and 26% for all subscribers.
The load-reducing plan aims to reduce the energy bill, which the Cairo government has begun to bear on its budget with large burdens that exceed the volume of revenues received.
Egypt had postponed an increase Electricity prices More than once; As the last increase in January 2024 was the first since July 2022; This made the state budget bear more than 65 billion pounds ($1.37 billion).
Fuel subsidy in Egypt
The Egyptian government is working to secure the necessary fuel for power stations in order to increase production during the summer, as it awaits the arrival in the coming days of the ship it rented to gasify liquefied gas, and Cairo intends to import 10 shipments during the coming period.
Sources revealed that Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El-Molla, and Minister of Electricity, Mohamed Shaker, have requested the provision of $200 million per month in order to secure the gas and diesel necessary for the operation of power generation stations.
The Ministers of Electricity and Petroleum confirmed during a recent government meeting that failure to provide the value will lead to an increase in the duration of the power outage to 4 hours, which may threaten the network being out of service. They called for the matter to be quickly completed and the necessary efforts to be harnessed to limit the aggravation of the crisis.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had assigned the Ministers of Electricity and Petroleum to develop a scenario to stop load shedding, declaring the end of the electricity cutting crisis in Egypt with the end of daylight saving time during November or December at the latest.
Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla recently revealed that his ministry provides 120 billion pounds ($2.53 billion) annually in support to the electricity sector to cover the cost difference between the price of gas and diesel, pointing out that the Ministry of Electricity pays only 5 billion pounds ($0.11 billion) per month of the total fuel bill it owes. , which amounts to 15 billion pounds ($0.32 billion).
* The dollar is equivalent to 47 Egyptian pounds.
Al-Mulla pointed out that the total cost of fuel provided by the Ministry of Petroleum to the Ministry of Electricity amounts to about 240 billion pounds annually, including 120 billion direct subsidies in gas and diesel prices, and 120 billion annual arrears in paying fuel bills.
Consumption of power stations
Electricity stations in Egypt recorded a significant increase in the consumption of diesel quantities supplied from petroleum production companies, reaching 30 thousand tons of diesel per day and 25 million cubic meters of gas per day, compared to 18 thousand tons of diesel per day and 25 million cubic meters of gas per day, agreed upon with the Ministry of Electricity. petroleum.
The rise in power stations’ consumption of fuel and gas comes at a time when… Egypt’s gas production It decreased for the sixth quarter in a row, during the first 3 months of this year, losing about 2.108 billion cubic meters compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023.
The total natural gas production in Egypt amounted to about 13.429 billion cubic meters during the period from January to the end of March 2024, declining from 15.537 billion cubic meters in the same quarter of 2023.
The majority of Egypt’s electricity generation mix is made up of fossil fuels (specifically gas), although its share has declined from the highest level recorded in 2017, as the country seeks to increase the proportion of clean energy.
And with the adoption of stations Electricity in Egypt On gas and its share in the mix rising to the highest level since 2020, the country is facing a major crisis in providing it, with a decline in domestic production. This prompts it to stop exporting liquefied gas during the summer months, and implement a plan to reduce loads.
The share of fossil fuels (oil and gas) in the electricity generation mix in Egypt increased during the past year to 88.21%, with a generation volume of 177.29 terawatt-hours, after declining in 2022 to 88.07% of the total mix, with a volume of 176.88 terawatt-hours.
Natural gas is the largest source of electricity generation in Egypt, with a share of 83.86%, with a generation volume of 168.54 terawatt-hours, during the past year, compared to 79.3%, with a volume of 159.29 terawatt-hours in 2022, making it the highest share recorded for this fuel in 2020, when it recorded 84.08. %, but it remained below the record level recorded in 2019, at 85.63%.
The following infographic, prepared by the Specialized Energy Platform, reviews Egypt’s natural gas production until the end of March 2024:
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