Egypt citizens warned against using elevators amid power cuts

The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) has issued a warning to citizens, urging them to avoid using elevators at specific times due to power outages, amid an ongoing heat wave in the country and the wider region.

In a statement on Saturday, the EEHC said that power cuts would be implemented in 20 minute windows, “taking into account that the outages begin at a period of 10 minutes before the top of the hour and 10 minutes after it.”

For safety reasons, the EEHC requested people not to use elevators during the 20-minute intervals during the power cuts.

On Monday, Egypt Independent reported that the Minister of Electricity, Mohamed Shaker, said in remarks that there is a “temporary” crisis in electricity production due to a lack of fuel, and low pressure in gas networks brought on by high loads on the electricity network. Shaker called on citizens to ration electricity consumption in order to reduce blackout hours.

READ: Heatwave 2023: Wildfires hit Tunisia

Last week, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attributed the power crisis to increased electricity consumption triggered by the summer heatwave affecting the country. Increased electricity demand has strained the country’s natural gas network which supplies the power plants, Madbouly said.

“We are currently implementing a temporary load reduction to reduce pressure on the country’s gas network,” Madbouly said during the weekly cabinet meeting, “the load reductions will continue until the middle of next week,” he insisted.

The heatwave, which is currently in its second consecutive week, has seen temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, particularly the south. Temperatures in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region are now some of the highest in the world, with Algeria currently battling raging wildfires, which have claimed the lives of dozens.

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