Egypt: President El-Sisi Meets Prime Minister, Ministers Electricity and Petroleum

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Prime Minister Dr. Moustafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Dr. Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy. The meeting was held within the framework of the continuous follow-up of the government’s efforts with regard to a number of priority files in the energy sector, most notably the implementation of the President’s directives to find decisive solutions to the issue of reducing electricity loads, while stopping them during the summer to alleviate the burden on citizens.

The Spokesman for the Presidency said the President was briefed on the current position of the government’s efforts to ensure the sustainability and stability of electrical supply at the level of the republic, and to reduce losses, especially in light of the high daily consumption of electricity in the summer, which requires exerting double the effort to preserve the consistency and quality of the service.

The prime minister and the ministers of electricity and petroleum reviewed efforts to provide the urgent needs of the electricity sector for petroleum products, which led to being able to stop the reduction of electricity loads during the summer. This is while working intensively, according to a designated time plan, to end this issue radically, taking into account regional and international instability, and its potential impact on the energy sector.

The government’s future plans were also presented to encourage investments in the energy sector, with the aim of increasing production of crude oil and gas as quickly as possible, and accelerating exploration programs to bring economic and service benefits to citizens. The meeting also touched on the government’s programs to maximize the use of modern technologies to increase production, with the aim of reducing the cost of importing, as well as securing oil and gas supplies to the local market.

President El-Sisi gave instructions to intensify the ongoing work to implement renewable energy projects, whether solar energy or wind energy, with the aim of adding new capabilities to the electrical grid. This is while stressing the great importance of this track, in light of the steady growth in the needs of local energy consumption, whether for individuals or for industry and production, as well as reducing the demand for gas and fossil fuels, and also within the framework of the state’s efforts to shift towards clean energy to counter the negative impacts of climate change.

The President also gave directives to enhance effective coordination and cooperation among the various ministries and state agencies to ensure the provision of regular electrical service. The President praised the understanding and appreciation shown by citizens for the load-reduction measures during the previous stage and gave directives to intensify efforts to develop multiple scenarios to deal with all possibilities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.