Power cuts are continuing in Egypt despite PM Madbouly’s pledge that they would be halted by 22 July as Cairo ramps up the import of LNG to keep up with rising gas consumption. In June Egypt awarded a tender for 21 cargoes for Q3 delivery and Mr Madbouly forecast that rolling blackouts of two hours a day would as a result halt from last weekend for the remainder of the summer ((MEES, 19 July). But the third week of July has gone and passed and his new pledge that blackouts would be history after 22 July appears to have been misguided.
“It’s possible there were some malfunctions or increased pressure on the electricity grid due to the continued heatwave, which may have led to power cuts,” Electricity Ministry spokesman Ayman Hamza told local press on 23 July. With temperatures remaining high throughout the week power outages continued with no word from either the PM or the newly appointed electricity or oil ministers on when they would belatedly come to an end, although MEES learns they have become less frequent. (CONTINUED - 836 WORDS)
