In an effort to rationalise energy consumption, Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Investment Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour issued a decision on Monday obliging ministries and governmental authorities and institutions to reduce their electricity consumption by 20%.
Abdel Nour said that a work plan for the decision’s implementation and a monthly report of the energy consumption in each entity will be prepared, according to a Monday statement from the ministry.
The decision will help in confronting the energy difficulties Egypt is experiencing, Abdel Nour pointed out.
An energy shortage has caused electricity blackouts since the one-year ruling of former President Mohamed Morsi.
Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker announced on Saturday that the government will not be able to prevent power cuts this summer, adding that the problem would take “several years” to resolve.
The government said earlier in April that the dwindling supply of fuel to power stations has occurred due to “problems” in transporting fuel quantities. In response, it made efforts to import additional quantities of natural gas, improve the efficiency of transferring fuel and diesel to stations and add more stations to the national grid.
In order to lessen loads on the electricity grids, Abdel Nour announced that starting from 18 June, air conditioner manufacturers and importers will be obliged to import or produce devices that can only be set on 20 degrees as a minimum cooling system and 28 degrees as a maximum heating system.
Abdel Nour explained that this was a decision issued by the government in June 2013, which gave air conditioner manufacturers and traders a one year grace period to comply.
The Egyptian Organisation for Standardisation and Quality, the General Industrial Development Authority and the General Organisation for Export and Import Control will take the needed measures to implement the decision.
Egypt’s current energy shortage comes sooner than anticipated, as it was originally expected to occur in 2022, according Anhar Hegazy, head of the energy efficiency department at the state-owned Information and Decision Support Centre.
Addressing the crisis in the long term, the government plans to produce 20% of the country’s energy through new and renewable energy by 2020, 12% of which being wind energy.
