![People flee from an explosion at an electricity plant at Al Hussein district in old Cairo on May 22nd, 2012. [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]](/shared/images/2012/08/10/egypt-power-plant-650_416.jpg)
People flee from an explosion at an electricity plant at Al Hussein district in old Cairo on May 22nd, 2012. [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
Mohammed Darwish purchased meat and vegetables on a daily basis over the past two weeks because on-going power outages in Egypt made it impossible to store food in the refrigerator.
Darwish, a 43-year old secondary school teacher, usually shops for a week's worth of supplies or more in one trip.
"Ramadan this year has been harsh because of high temperatures coupled with power outages," he said.
Darwish said the government is not the only entity responsible for the problem.
"There is a lot of waste by citizens when it comes to electricity consumption, and there is a real need for awareness campaigns to save energy," he said.
So Darwish began an initiative with some residents in his Maadi neighbourhood. They visited area residents and business owners and tried to convince them to reduce their energy consumption, particularly during Ramadan.
Some people responded and turned off the lighted decorations they put up in the streets at the start of Ramadan.
Over the past two weeks, power cuts have increased in frequency in Egypt, and power outages in some areas lasted 18 hours a day.
This created resentment among residents and some blocked the roads and gathered for sit-ins in front of their provincial administrative buildings to demand the resumption of electricity.
The crisis delayed trading at the Cairo Stock Exchange and caused disruption in the city's metro service for two hours on August 9th, according to AFP.
Tariq al-Shami, an engineer who supervises consumption at the Giza power station, said power outages during summer -- when consumption increases -- are normal, especially because many use air conditioners and electrical appliances.
Al-Shami also associated the continuous increase in consumption patterns with the month of Ramadan, which also coincided with a recent spike in high temperatures.
"This is what caused peak hours to go up to 19 hours a day, beginning from 8 a.m. and continuing until after 3 a.m. at the time of suhoor," he said, noting that the overload caused some power stations to go out of service.
Al-Shami said other reasons for the outages include weak grid infrastructure and decaying power stations.
"The Walidiya station alone took 650 megawatts away from the [national] electricity supply after two of its units, out of a total of 2,000 units that operate for general consumption, went out of service," he said.
According to al-Shami, a new unit will be added to the Abu Quir station, which will provide 650 megawatts of energy and reduce the load off the electricity grid.
He said it is important to upgrade the entire grid and bring in new power stations to solve the long-term problem.
Industry and tourism are suffering heavy losses on a daily basis because of the power outages, according to Mahmoud Mansour, a member of the Egyptian Businessmen's Association.
"The industrial sector has been hit hard by the electricity crisis because of forced production breaks in many factories," he said.
He estimated daily production losses to be around 25%, saying that the state of confusion in executing production plans led to rescheduling export operations.
Tourist sites like Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh also lost many visitors, who left before their scheduled departure dates or cancelled their trips, Mansour said.
"After the power failure, resorts tried to rely on their own generators; but in the absence of the diesel fuel required to operate [the generators], these also stopped working," he said.
"All we need is patience since no one can wave a magic wand," Mansour said.
He said he expects conditions to return to normal after Eid and after power units are repaired and new ones begin operating.
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READER COMMENTS
ثابت محمد
2012-8-14
Among the most important priorities of the Egyptian foreign policy following the revolution of January 25 is the relationship binding Egypt and Bahrain. In fact, researchers in the field of economic policies should work on strengthening relations between Egypt and Bahrain and increasing the level of exports and imports between both countries. Besides, the leaders of the three Gulf countries (Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain) should contribute to boosting economic relations between Egypt and the Gulf countries. We should also increase Arab cooperation. The latter increases the bilateral trade between the Arab countries and help establish the common Arab market. This will contribute to attracting funds from the Gulf countries to Egypt and thus all countries will benefit from the exchange. This can be achieved mainly in the coming period especially that Egypt enjoys good security conditions contrary to the European countries. Besides, there are guarantees and reforms from the Egyptian Government, officials and experts. Thus, the privileges offered by Egypt will attract more funds.
محمد العراقي
2012-8-13
Unfortunately, this is what happens when you remove the dictator: 1- the power is cut. 2- The services stop. 3- There are more looters and thugs. 4- Factories and farms stop their production. 5- The dictator is replaced by thugs, thieves and uneducated persons. 6- The people are disappointed, because after removing the dictator, the problems are still there, if not greater! Oh dear! What is the solution; should we keep the dictator?
ادمrh
2012-8-12
The solution of this problem is rationalization of consumption. Everyone should start by himself!
مصطفى نعيم
2012-8-12
I think that the future of Egypt will be brighter since the Egyptians showed much determination to proceed in their path towards development and to move forward. I expect the Egyptians to keep optimistic about their future because the future of their country will be much better. Undoubtedly, they will enjoy peace and security. I'm out of my mind that the Egyptians, who managed to get rid of Hosni Mubarak, will be able to form a strong Government. It is not possible for them to accept more insults and humiliations. The goals of the Egyptians could be reached easily. I do not think that it is difficult to achieve their goals. The most important thing is that the Egyptians proved to be heroes. Therefore, they are able to do anything imaginable. In the future, they will desperately need massive work in terms of construction and reconstruction in order to show the world that they are actually heroes and that they are able to serve their interests by themselves. I wanted to tell this brotherly people that the future development depends on the Egyptians. In fact, the latter have already proved their bravery. God willing, everything is okay O Lord of the Worlds! I also wanted to say that construction, reconstruction, investment, agriculture, industry and all other activities are important. We want to show the whole world that the Arabs are strong and do not put up with insults and humiliations. On the contrary, we are respectable people and we want to make advanced progress.
مصطفى
2012-8-11
The Egyptian economy should be promoted and developed, as it is undergoing a huge crisis and difficulties and challenges. The stopping of the wheel of production, and the fact that Egypt has turned to importing rather than producing and exporting, has made a breach in the financial liquidity and the availability of foreign currency in the Egyptian banks. Let’s not forget that the insecurity has affected the wheel of production and made it stop, and many national projects have been affected too. There must be a beginning in the economic reform and economic development through an administrative system in the country, and a reform in all the sectors, and the elimination of insecurity. The security must be developed and directed towards the heavy industries and the agricultural development. Also, there must be a move in the direction of a culture of production and work. The Egyptian economy has diverse resources from the income of the Suez Canal, whose tolls must be increased, so that Egypt can achieve a higher income. Economic diversification should be achieved by the development of tourism in all its various forms, and there must be special care for the overseas workers, so that their welfare will come to the Egyptian banks. Also, industry must be developed, and all the production resources must be updated until we reach the highest level of production capacity. The Egyptian economy is capable of recovery, growth and progress, and it needs to be advanced with the forearms of the Egyptian people, who own all the elements of production and delivery, in order to achieve the desired objectives. So, the Egyptian economy is the way to get out of poverty and underdevelopment, and to help the Egyptian people to progress.
عبيد فاضل
2012-8-11
Egypt is a historical country with one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Egypt, the civilized and the sophisticated country, has undergone a difficult situation over the past 60 years. Since the revolution of July and the beginning of the military government, Egypt has been under military control, which is not valid for the civilians, and it does not achieve their hopes for development. After 60 years of degradation as a result of the refusal of the ideas of Muhammad Nagib, the first President of Egypt proposed to convert the state system into a civil state. They imprisoned him under house arrest until the black era of Mubarak, in which poverty, ignorance, theft and corruption spread, and Egypt turned into a homestead where a small category of people were stealing all the wealth resources, until the great revolution of the 25th of January that overthrew Mubarak, but failed to overthrow his criminal regime, which has spread everywhere. However, the counter-revolution, the unsuccessful government that ruled during the transitional period until the election of the President and the formation of the new government by the free will of the Egyptian people, is over. We wish them all success in their new positions. The Egyptian people are expecting a lot of development and growth for the precious Egypt. The new Egyptian government must seek to resolve the outstanding problems of the corruption of 60 years, which is a huge burden. Also there are many demands to raise the educational level and the health care industry, which has neglected the health care of the Egyptian citizens, so the health care in the country has deteriorated. Also, it has a major role in solving the problem of housing and providing housing for the youth, to solve the problem of spinsterhood. In addition, it must heed the economy to raise the income level, to solve the unemployment problem and to create job opportunities for the young people. The new government must open new prospects for the Egyptian people in employment and development.
احمد راشد
2012-8-11
Egypt is one of the most important states in the Middle East, and it is considered a leading and historic country. We wish the new government success in achieving the demands of the Egyptian people, in terms of the development of education, health, housing and the economy.
سعد
2012-8-11
The Arab Republic of Egypt has fallen under the rule of a gang of thieves, where every one of them was stealing what he could and left the Egyptian people sleeping on the floor of poverty, having no home to shelter them, while they themselves were sleeping on silk and enjoying the money looted from the Egyptian people. Here, we ask the government to quickly find appropriate solutions to the housing problem from which the Egyptians are suffering.
محمد
2012-8-11
Liars!