Hommam Al Nassim 
Egypt announced urgent measures to import additional quantities of gas and diesel, as a result of increasing consumption in light of rising temperatures.
The Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum announced in a joint statement the continuation of the plan to reduce electricity loads, which began on Sunday, by increasing an additional hour to three hours per day until the end of this week.
The two ministries attributed this step to the necessity of maintaining the safe and stable operation of the gas network and electricity production stations, and they apologized to the Egyptians for the interruptions.
The statement explained that the severe rise in temperatures above normal levels for this period requires an increase in the period of reducing loads, indicating that this rise affects many countries in the region.
Egyptian meteorology warned of severe increases in temperature with the start of the summer season, and Egypt joined other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar, in addition to Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Libya, which have been facing a severe heat wave since June 11.
The joint statement stressed taking urgent and immediate measures to import and pump additional shipments and quantities of gas and diesel, to confront the increasing consumption due to the early heat wave, without details regarding the specific quantities.
Unofficial sources estimated the Ministry of Electricity’s daily needs at about 135 million cubic meters of gas and 10,000 tons of diesel, to overcome the recurring power outages across Egypt.
July 2023 witnessed the return of the power outage crisis in Egypt for the first time since 2014, after the authorities succeeded in resolving the crisis that swept the country in 2013.
Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait stated that state support for fuel amounted to 220 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.6 billion) during the current fiscal year, and that stopping electricity cuts requires an additional $300 million per month to import a sufficient amount of energy materials.
Egyptian government spokesman Mohamed Al-Homsani announced that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had directed the Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum to provide the necessary resources to complete load reduction by the end of this year (2024).
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