CAIRO: Electricity consumption rates hit an all time high this summer with a 35 percent increase in consumption for industries and 36.9 percent in domestic consumption despite recent increases in electricity bills. According to the Ministry of Electricity, consumption for intensive industries soared to 4.9 billion kilowatts per hour, which constitutes 16.2 percent of the country's national electricity network. On the other hand, domestic consumption has soared to 19,600 megawatts. The ministry also unveiled plans to construct a new power facility to generate renewable energy and act as a regional hub. The ministry estimates that the new plant will boost production of renewable energy resources, particularly wind energy, from the current 30 percent to 70 percent. The facility will increase Egypt's export capacity of renewable energy resources, as it will supply other regional markets such as Syria, Libya, and Yemen. The new power plant also comes as a part of the regional power grid project that aims to link energy networks across Arab countries by 2020. The project is one phase of a much larger effort by the European Union, Mediterranean countries, and MENA nations to allow the trading of electricity across the region. It would also bring GCC countries in line to join the world's largest electrical interconnection scheme, the Mediterranean Ring project. Currently, North African countries are connected to Jordan, Syria, and Turkey through Egypt. Morocco has been connected to Europe through Spain since 1997. Plans are also being discussed to connect Egypt to sub-Saharan African countries through the Nile Basin Initiative. Last week, Minister of Electricity Hassan Younis said he will meet with his Saudi counterpart to discuss plans to implement Egypt-Saudi power grid, the region's largest in terms of capacity and expansion, which also comes under the umbrella of the Mediterranean Ring project. Upon implementation, the Egyptian-Saudi power grid will constitute over 85 percent of the entire region's electrical capacity and will serve all Arab networks.
