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Morsy’s administration assured the country on Saturday that the president is committed to solving Egypt’s persistent electricity problems.
In a press statement released on Saturday afternoon, spokesperson for the president’s office Dr Yasser Ali affirmed the president’s dedication to solving the electricity crisis that sees power outages at least once a day across the capital. Ali said Morsy had met with the minister of electricity to discuss the importance of solving the problem within the next few days.
“President Mohamed Morsy issued a directive to the Ministry of Electricity stressing the need to solve the crisis of power outages as soon as possible, through the operation of two new electric power plants,” said Ali. “Electricity problems will be over soon.”
According to the statement, only a few minor issues stop the two new electrical power plants from being functional immediately, and President Morsy is committed to investing in alternative energy, especially solar power, as a long-term solution to a possible energy crisis.
Dr Ali ended on a confident note.”I expect we will achieve electrical self-sufficiency as well as the ability to export electricity within a few short years,” he said.
Egypt has been plunged into darkness fairly often in past weeks, with some areas having regular power cuts every three or four hours. While the problem is not unprecedented, the scale certainly is.
According to National Electricity Control Center (NECC) reports, the shortage in electricity generation has reached 4,000 megawatts. While the power grid is supposed to generate 26,500 megawatts, it only produces 22,300 megawatts, which means that 20 percent of the country’s needs of electricity remain unsatisfied.
The ongoing electricity crisis has been met with anger and complaint by the general populace. A movement called “We Won’t Pay!” was recently launched in Imbaba by the Socialist Popular Alliance. The initiative urges citizens not to pay electricity bills to protest the frequent lapses in service.
