An increase in electricity prices by an average of 26% were announced Tuesday, at a press conference held by the minister of electricity, Mohamed Shaker. Shaker said electricity costs for factories would rise about 41.8% and for households, 20.9%. The price hike, which should take effect in July, are a consequence of subsidy cuts, tied to the country’s $12 billion IMF loan programme. Furthermore, the minister added that the ministry was working on diversifying energy sources to include Nuclear Power, and Renewable Energy. Shaker unraveled the ministry’s plans for El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plants where by 2026, it aims to add a nuclear reactor to the electrical grid. As for Renewable Energy, the minister noted that the Solar Power Plant in the Benban area near Aswan was the largest solar plant to be built in one place on an area of 30 squared kilometres. The plant is to be added to the national electrical grid through 4 transformer plants, where the capacity of the a single station would be 500 MWatts. Shaker emphasized that the ministry hopes to eliminate power outages completely. Similar to the previous electricity tariffs, the hike…
Minister of Electricity Announces Hikes in Electricity Bills by an Average of 26%
June 13, 2018
