04:05 PM
Friday, December 30, 2022
Books – Mohamed Salah:
The past few days witnessed frequent power outages throughout the day in the various governorates and regions of the Republic.
The Alexandria governorate has the largest share of citizens’ complaints about the unusual power outages, which made some wonder about the reason.
An official source at the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company revealed that there was a plan implemented last Sunday that included reducing loads throughout the day, according to an expanded plan in each governorate.
The source explained, in statements to Masrawy, on Friday, that the plan includes disconnecting the electric current for an hour from all areas in cities and urban areas, by dividing that into each region throughout the day from ten o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock in the evening, and separating the electric current from the governorates of Upper Egypt and the Delta for a period of two hours. Daily throughout the day by dividing it in all regions, which contributes to reducing the consumption of natural gas and diesel due to its high prices significantly.
The source pointed out that, for the first time since 2015, loads are being reduced due to the availability of natural gas and diesel, and the benefit from exporting them abroad to obtain hard currency and contribute to providing the citizens’ needs for basic commodities, pointing out that the proportions of diesel consumption have been reduced from 16 thousand tons of diesel per day to 8 thousand tons, and natural gas consumption rates from 120 million cubic meters of gas per day to 80 million cubic meters of gas per day, and stopping the work of some electricity production and generation stations to provide the electrical energy produced while maintaining a surplus of electrical capacities at the same time as well as not cutting off the electricity About some strategic and important areas such as hospitals.
He stressed that the decision came due to the lack of available quantities of diesel fuel locally, in addition to the high price per ton globally, as well as the lack of hard currency to purchase the required quantities of fuel oil to operate the production and generation of electricity, noting that the nine distribution companies nationwide have drawn up a plan to tighten control over theft of electricity. By cutting off the electric current to the most lost areas at the level of the Republic, where the electricity was cut off according to the control of each company, such as the areas (Shaq Al-Thobean and Arab Musaed in southern Cairo – the western and eastern desert of the Middle Egypt Electricity Company – Al-Manzala in the northern delta for distribution – Al-Sharqia in the channel for distribution – Al-Marg in North Cairo Distribution), saying: “The mitigation was first applied to the Minister of Electricity, the ministry’s leaders, and the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company”… noting that there is a real crisis that the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy is suffering from, represented by the high rates of electric current thefts to about 21% of the total energy sold to citizens.
According to the source, yesterday evening, Thursday, instructions were issued to the heads of the distribution companies to cancel the work of reducing loads and return to the usual situation to ensure that there is no impact on citizens as a result of the continuous interruptions in electricity throughout the day, noting that rationalization greatly reduces the consumption of natural gas, stressing that Citizens must have a culture of conviction, given the difficult economic conditions and the need for hard currency to maximize national income.
Several countries recently announced measures to reduce their energy consumption after drought, heat waves, epidemics and war created a global energy crisis, with the high cost of energy spreading to almost every corner of the planet.
The European Union has drawn up a plan to reduce gas consumption by 15 percent this winter, and Germany, France and Spain have set rules requiring public buildings to have a maximum heating temperature of 19 degrees Celsius in the winter, and in Germany also public buildings and monuments are not lit at night, while in Spain Lights in shop windows must be turned off after 10 pm.
In Asia, the authorities in some Chinese provinces forced factories to close for several days to reduce energy consumption, and offices and stores were ordered to turn off lights and air conditioners. Pakistan also announced earlier a reduction in the working week in government offices from six days to five to save energy, and Bangladesh took measures Likewise, it decided to close schools for one more day in the week, and cut the working hours of civil servants by an hour per day.