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Sudan may have to stay in the dark a bit longer after Egypt postpones plans to supply electricity to the country

Sudan may have to stay in the dark a bit longer after Egypt postpones plans to supply electricity to the country
  • Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has postponed the first phase of 100MW electricity interconnection project with Sudan to March of this year.
  • Sudan's electrical power sector has been subject to poor infrastructure and experiences frequent power outages.
  • About 70% of the electricity is consumed in the Khartoum area. Rural areas are without access to electricity, except for some large, export-oriented agricultural schemes.

Sudan may have to stay in the dark for a bit longer after Egypt, the land of the Pharaoh, postponed plans to supply electricity to the country even as it moves to become a regional energy hub.

Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has postponed the first phase of 100MW electricity interconnection project with Sudan to March of this year.

Egypt’s ministry of electricity and renewable energy confirmed the reports and said that the decision to postpone came as a result of a delay in the implementation of the project by an Indian multi-national construction firm, Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) which was given the mandate to execute the task.

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EETC explained that L&T Limited left them with no choice after the later was unable to comply with the set delivery date of the project.

In 2018, Egypt and Sudan agreed to set up a 300 MW electric interconnection project on two phases.

Sudan's electrical power sector has been subject to poor infrastructure and experiences frequent power outages. At present, the country’s electricity generating capacity consists of about 760 megawatts of thermal power, about 320 megawatts of hydropower capacity, and total electricity generation is 3.2 billion kilowatt hours (Bow).

About 70% of the electricity is consumed in the Khartoum area. Rural areas are without access to electricity, except for some large, export-oriented agricultural schemes.

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Electrical power is transmitted through two electrical grids, the Blue Nile Grid and the Western grid which encompasses a small portion of the country.

The Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) was implementing an aerial dual circuit linkage line which is approximately 100km long. The interconnection starts at the first phase in Toshka 2 transformer station in Egypt to the 220 kV transformer station in Aqin, Sudan.

The second phase will be 500 kV. Both Phases have a total investment value of about US$ 6.7 million.

Performance testing and experimental operation of the project in the first stage with a capacity of 150 MW was scheduled to start in the first week of January.

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The project of electricity interconnection with Sudan is part of Egypt’s plan to become a regional energy hub and exchange electricity with Arab, African, and European countries after a surplus in production of up to 15,000 MW.

The country is moving to exploit its remarkable geographical location between the three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe.

Egypt is already electrically interconnected with Jordan and Libya, and it also signed a memorandum of understanding for power interconnection with Cyprus and Greece. Moreover, it has also signed contracts for electricity interconnection lines with Saudi Arabia that are scheduled to begin operation in 2021 with a capacity of up to 3,000 MW.

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