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.
Related News
Renewable electricity powered California just shy of 100% for the first time in history
LOS ANGELES - Renewable electricity met just shy of 100% of California's demand for the first time on Saturday, officials said, much of it from large amounts of solar power produced along Interstate 10, an hour east of the Coachella Valley.
While partygoers celebrated in the blazing sunshine at the Stagecoach music festival, "at 2:50 (p.m.), we reached 99.87 % of load served by all renewables, which broke the previous record," said Anna Gonzales, spokeswoman for California Independent System Operator, a nonprofit that oversees the state's bulk electric power system and transmission lines. Solar power provided two-thirds of the amount needed.
Environmentalists…
