Egypt defends power policies
Cairo said imposed rolling blackouts during the warmest part of the year are necessary to prevent the electrical grid from collapsing. An energy council led by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said the blackouts would continue during the heat wave but would last only a few hours at a stretch, Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reports.
Magdy Rady, a government spokesman, said new power stations were expected to come online within a few weeks and more solar power facilities were on the horizon.
Meanwhile, three Egyptian nationals filed a lawsuit calling on President Hosni Mubarak to dismiss Electricity Minister Hassan Younis for failing to address the problem.
The complaint to Mubarak said the power cuts are leading to a loss in productivity and threatening lives of patients at national hospitals, the report adds.
The Electricity Ministry said a budget shortfall is to blame for many of the electricity woes.
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Coronavirus impacts dismantling of Germany's Philippsburg nuclear plant
BERLIN - German energy company EnBW said the coronavirus outbreak has impacted plans to dismantle its Philippsburg nuclear power plant in Baden-Wurttemberg, southwest Germany.
The controlled detonation of Phillipsburg's cooling towers will now take place in mid-May at the earliest.
However, EnBW said the exact demolition date depends on many factors - including the further development in the coronavirus pandemic.
Philippsburg 2, a 1402MWe pressurised water reactor unit permanently shut down on 31 December 2019.
At the end of 2019, the Ministry of the Environment gave basic approval for decommissioning and dismantling of unit 2 of the Philippsburg nuclear power plant, inluding explosive demolition…
