Egypt’s Power Grid Handles Record-Breaking Surge in Demand

Egypt’s national electricity grid absorbed a record-breaking 39,500 megawatts on Tuesday, August 13th, marking the highest load ever recorded in the country’s history. The figure surpassed Monday’s maximum by 600 megawatts, and beat 2024’s previous peak by a full 1,500 megawatts.

Screens at the National Energy Control Centre showed the jump in consumption during the second day of an ongoing heatwave, when demand surged in response to high temperatures.

The unified grid managed to maintain supply without disruption, despite the historic spike in use. Government efforts included increased field monitoring, direct communication with subscribers, and heightened presence of technical and safety teams across the network. Pre-planned maintenance and gradual efficiency upgrades over the past months were key to managing the surge, particularly in peak-use governorates.

This peak consumption event comes at a time when energy usage across Egypt has shown sharp daily increases. The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has pointed to uncommonly high temperatures as a driving force behind the load.