Egypt Power Outages: Causes and Solutions

Dec 11, 2025 0

Egypt, with a population of over 114 million, is currently grappling with frequent power outages, causing increasing frustration among its citizens. These outages are largely attributed to extreme heat and a shortage of natural gas, impacting daily life, businesses, and essential services.

In the sweltering heat of over forty degrees in summer, the country experiences irregular power outages lasting several hours each day. Can you endure such a life? Yet, this has become the daily life for the Egyptian people over the past year. Since July 2023, the Egyptian government has begun implementing power rationing plans; however, with the peak electricity demand in summer, the energy crisis has intensified, and power outage measures have had to become one of the important measures for the authorities to address the challenges.

The daily blackouts have caused the metro in Cairo to grind to a halt during rush hour, business to be disrupted, and the city's already terrible traffic problem to get even worse. The power cuts left parts of the capital without running water, and caused 2,000 mobile phone signal boosters to fail.

The situation is so desperate that Sisi's voice was heavy with emotion as he appealed to the Egyptian people on Saturday. "Have we developed our electricity production to meet our needs? Made stations to meet our needs? This did not happen because the financing required is large," Sisi said. "We must understand that matter cannot at all be resolved and remedied overnight. If we work together on this, if we accept this challenge, if we are patient, we will succeed in putting Egypt in the place where it deserves to be."

Global electricity mix share.

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Causes of the Power Outage Crisis

Insufficient Natural Gas Supply

The primary cause of the power outages is the insufficient supply of natural gas. Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly stated, "We do not have problems with electricity generation or the grid; rather, we cannot provide fuel." The natural gas shortage has both internal and external causes.

An estimated 66% of Egypt’s electricity production is generated by natural gas. Gas is still the largest source of electricity generation in Egypt at more than 79%, but it is lower than the previous year’s 82.9%.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources revealed in a statement last October that gas production from the Zohr gas field declined by 11% in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. "ENI has revised its gas reserve estimates for the Zohr field from 30 trillion cubic feet to under 10 trillion.

Gas flows from Israel to Egypt are in crisis now because of what happened on October 7 and afterward," said al-Sadat, the founder of the liberal Reform and Development party. "Israel believes that Egypt is not supporting or responding to some of its requests or actions," al-Sadat stated.

Rapid Growth in Social Electricity Consumption

Egypt's population is rapidly increasing, now exceeding 110 million. The sustained high summer temperatures have significantly raised residential electricity usage. In Egypt, the residential sector accounts for the highest proportion of electricity consumption at 37.6%, surpassing industrial use.

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Shortage of Foreign Currency

Egypt is the twelfth largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world, with total exports of $51.6 billion in 2022, where natural gas is the most exported product, accounted for about $10 billion, or one-fifth of total exports. Madbouly candidly stated, 'With economic development and population growth, our dollar resources are under significant pressure.' Due to restrictions from foreign currency demand and extraction contracts, natural gas must continue to be exported.

Cairo has struggled to balance the need to power Egypt’s domestic electricity grid with the need to generate the foreign currency required to cover government spending.

Much of Egypt has been suffering from power outages since last year on the back of hard-currency shortages affecting fuel imports for power stations.

The current crisis can be considered an indication of inadequate planning. “The current crisis can be considered an indication of inadequate planning. There were clear warning signs that should have been addressed,” said economist Mohamed A.

Installed capacity of power generation in Egypt by source.

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Impact on Daily Life

In Egypt, frequent power outages are more than just a nuisance; they represent a significant disruption to daily life, work, and connectivity. For those relying on technology, especially laptops, to navigate their workday, maintaining productivity during these blackouts is critical.

The natural gas shortage has impacted not only residential power outages but also production, leading to numerous inconveniences. The government has temporarily reduced the natural gas supply to several large fertilizer manufacturing plants by 20% to 30%, forcing them to suspend operations.

Additionally, some factory owners have reported that when power is restored, the voltage is often too high, which can shock the equipment that had been offline, leading to potential damage.

Here's a quote from an Egyptian resident, Habib: “I must charge my wheelchair battery for four to six hours every three days. There’s also a two-hour outage at home during lunchtime. Moreover, due to power outages in my village, I lose my internet connection for four hours every day."

Another resident said, "When the electricity comes back on after being cut off, the refrigerator motors will burn out if the power comes back at high voltage and they aren’t unplugged. I have four beverage coolers, which will cost about $1,000 to replace. Sales activity has been at its lowest point since COVID-19. People have become poor. What does El-Sisi want from us?

Government Response and Measures

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly chaired a special cabinet meeting on Monday to address the crisis after the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company extended one-hour rolling blackouts, which started in May, to up to three hours of nationwide service interruption.

Following the cabinet session, the electricity and petroleum ministries issued a public statement of regret, which is unusual for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government.

Indeed, confronting this crisis was a priority on the agenda of President Sisi, who, since coming to power in June 2014, has been keen to solve it and the state has launched an ambitious plan to confront the crisis by building a network of new plants: three gas-fired plants with a capacity of 4.8 gigawatts, namely Beni Suef and the new capital, burlus, operated by the German Siemens group, representing almost 40% of Egypt’s energy capacity and providing electricity to about 40 million Egyptians.

Madbouli said the government is working hard to solve the electricity crisis to put the economy back on track to stimulate investment and production.

However, he indicated that the three-hour load-shedding plans will continue until 1 July. “Until conditions begin to stabilise in the third week of July, I urge people to rationalise their electricity consumption,” Madbouli said.

Diaaeddin Dawoud, a leftist MP, accused the government of failing to find credible solutions to the crisis.

Alternative Solutions and Renewable Energy

Egypt has experienced multiple power outage crises, and the government is actively promoting a shift from a fossil fuel-dominated economy to one led by renewable energy. With the continuous decline in the costs of wind and solar energy, diversifying the energy structure has become a crucial strategy for Egypt's long-term energy security.

The 2014 Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy (ISES 2035) proposed that by 2035, the proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources should be increased to 42%.

Located in the 'Sunbelt,' Egypt has abundant solar energy resources; the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez are renowned 'wind corridors,' often experiencing strong winds and possessing rich wind energy resources. Approximately 95% of Egypt's population is concentrated along the banks of the Nile and in the Delta, making the vast uninhabited areas ideal for developing large-scale renewable energy infrastructure.

Egypt needs to add 12,000 megawatts to its grid over the next five years at a capital cost of about $12 billion, he said, but did not say what kind of plant.

Concentrated Solar Power Plant.

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), rather than photovoltaic power, at a large scale is perfect for Egypt's climate and weather. It produces thermal energy that drives conventional turbines and so can work in tandem with fossil fuel plants.

Modern plants contain energy storage systems enabling them to produce power at night and can have natural gas backup. A plant in Spain (Gemasolar, right) of this nature has a capacity factor of 63%. There is more solar energy available in Egypt than in Spain, so this figure would be higher there.

The upfront costs are high, but Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs of CSP plants are low compared to those of fossil fuel-fired power plants. A typical 50 MW parabolic trough plant requires about 30-40 employees for operation, maintenance and solar field cleaning.

Egypt benefits from 2.1-2.7MWh per square metre, with the most in the east. This is a massive resource.

For this, a plant with collectors covering an area of 12,000 m2 could generate around 4, 600 MWh of electricity with six hours of storage. A third more with 12 hours of storage.