Blackouts in Egypt will be reduced, but not ended

[DJKeefy]

Blackouts in Egypt will be reduced, but not ended: Electricity officials.

Following two days of increased power cuts, Egypt's government on Wednesday announced plans to increase the country's supply of electricity by importing natural gas and diesel in the short term and beginning construction on three new power plants.

The blackouts on Monday and Tuesday saw reports of up to five separate power cuts throughout the day in some neighbourhoods, as compared to an average of once or twice per day.

Energy consumption is currently peaking at around 22,000 megawatts (mW), much less than the 34,000 mW used in the hottest months of summer – which raises concerns about continuing fuel shortages in the coming months.

Gaber El-Desouki, chairman of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, addressed this week's power cuts on Wednesday at a joint press conference with Khaled Abdel-Badie, of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).

El-Desouki said that the electric grid had been missing between 3000 and 4000 mW per day on Monday and Tuesday – compared to an average of 1000 to 2000 mW during the last two weeks.

He said the blackouts became more frequent as several units of power plants had been out of service for maintenance, while others had been stopped due to previous plans as well as being out of fuel.

However, he assured that the situation would improve.

“Today things are getting better, as work resumed in some units. There will be a gradual improvement during the next two weeks,” El-Desouki said.

But he said that while the cuts would decrease, no one should expect them to end anytime soon.

Construction should begin this summer on three new power plants in Giza, Banha in the Nile Delta and the Red Sea town of Ain Sokhna, all of which will have a total capacity of 2400 mW, El-Desouki said on Wednesday.

He and Abdel-Badie said they would coordinate their efforts to assure that the fuel supply covered the needs of the electricity sector. Some power plants will be run on diesel fuel and solar power to free up supplies of natural gas, they said.

In the short term, Egypt is preparing to import natural gas beginning in August, as the government is finalising a deal to buy a floating unit to re-gas a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) unit based in Ain Sokhna, Abdel-Badie said.

Abdel-Badie also revealed that the government plans to import LNG directly but that the procedures are usually complicated.

“Long term deals to sell the gas of LNG projects are usually signed before the project is finalised," Abdel-Badie said. "That is why a tender that was announced seven months ago did not succeed.”

Instead of launching a tender offer, the government is negotiating with different partners for any available quantities of LNG in the international market to provide the gas Egypt needs in 2014.

Abdel-Badie said that the government will launch a new tender for 2015, as it will need to import natural gas for three to five years until the country can restore its previous levels of production.

Egypt was a gas exporter, but production has fallen off in the last three years of political unrest.

A concession given to British Petroleum (BP) in north Alexandria was expected to produce 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day by late 2014, but work was suspended after the 2011 uprising.

Abdel-Badie, the EGAS chairman, said that the government is working with BP to resume work and start production by 2017/18.

In addition to the power plants and the fuel imports, the government is also working towards increasing power generated by the High Dam in Aswan, Upper Egypt.

Egypt's energy demands will have to be met soon. A Facebook group formed to publicly file complaints with the electricity ministry denounced the government this week for the power cuts, arguing that many pieces of electrical equipment had been damaged.

Other campaigns have urged people to stop paying their electric bills if the service is continually interrupted.

Power cuts have become more frequent in Egypt since August 2008, but are mostly limited to the summer. The phenomenon of blackouts in winter first started in December 2012, but has intensified this year.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/98158.aspx

[Dusak]

I'll miss them when they've gone, I entertain myself at night betting on the time and duration of the next one.

[Brian Yare]

I'll miss them when they've gone, I entertain myself at night betting on the time and duration of the next one.

I will plan to be up near the mountains between 6 and 7:30 p.m. when I come over this month. The view of the stars should be excellent, although the lights on the hills may still be on. Eating after 8 p.m. should still be o.k., with prior bookings.

I hope that someone will post if the times of the WB cuts varies by very much.

[carrie]

regardless of how many power cuts we have the lights shine on the hills.Coming over on the ferry the other evening there were no lights to be seen on the west bank, apart from the headlights from cars but the hill lights shone on.

[Brian Yare]

regardless of how many power cuts we have the lights shine on the hills.Coming over on the ferry the other evening there were no lights to be seen on the west bank, apart from the headlights from cars but the hill lights shone on.

As I said earlier in the year, the mountains are in the New Valley Governorate, so not subject to Luxor Governance. But it is still not very kind that they rub salt into the wounds while the locals are suffering power outages.

[Dusak]

Some one told me that they were off the other night. I can't tell from my place for all the dust.

[carrie]

Power outages when did the Brits start calling them power outages, they used to always be power cuts. Another Americanism. We will all be uncoupling soon instead of divorcing.

[Dusak]

Power outages when did the Brits start calling them power outages, they used to always be power cuts. Another Americanism. We will all be uncoupling soon instead of divorcing.

I thought that term referred to parting of the hot sweaty bodies after a bit of 'you know what.''

[BBLUX]

Does anyone know if all the generators at Aswan High Dam are now functioning? I heard several years ago that at least one was out of commission.
We just got back from a visit to the Red Sea today and noticed that a huge amount of new electricity pylons and cabling was being erected. Where is the extra power for these coming from?

[Who2]

It's all a political ploy anyhow, all these cuts will be addressed by "El Jeffe" as vote for me now and I'll flip the switch once you vote me in, we've seen it before in many Countries many times before...

[Dusak]

Does anyone know if all the generators at Aswan High Dam are now functioning? I heard several years ago that at least one was out of commission.
We just got back from a visit to the Red Sea today and noticed that a huge amount of new electricity pylons and cabling was being erected. Where is the extra power for these coming from?

These are in preparation for when the new Renaissance dam starts to generate its power, make it easy for us to nick it. Be prepared dibdibdib.

[Hafiz]

The troubles with getting LNG are part due to the fact that Qatar, the largest exporter, is on the nose in Egypt and visa versa.

The idea that there will be new and early power from plants where construction has recently commenced is a claim that would only be believed in Egypt.

The idea that gas supplies will be improved in 4 to 5 years ignores that overseas gas companies, with all the expertise, have stopped exploration because Egypt both owes money ($2.5b last year) to those companies operating in Egypt and has breached its contract with the biggest producer, BG, by taken for cheaply priced domestic use the gas which BG was contractually entitled own and to bound to export to those it had contracts with. BG has announced to the London Stock Exchange something along the lines of inability to fulfill its contractual obligations because of forces beyond its control. It has also written down its assets in Egypt by $1.36b.

I should say that BP is developing a new field exclusively for domestic use. Maybe they haven't learnt the lessons of BG.

Maybe they could by gas from Israel which has planed, built and about to produce, all within 3 years, from its immense field off the coast.

The removal of staff from Egypt by BP and BG dates from the army takeover although I doubt the government wants this to be known that the security situation is worse under the army. Prior to that they were OK about the situation.

Production hasn't fallen because of unrest its fallen because exploration has waned and bad debts, Egypt doesn't pay its bills, supply from existing wells has sharply fallen with no strategy on what to do. The fall in supply doesn't happen overnight. All these things are in the control of the government not of 'political unrest'. Remember that engineers and their companies work in some of the most dangerous countries in the world against which Egypt's unrest is a pussy cat.