Ministry to ease summer alert as power, water use hits record high

• If the record of 17,360 MWs remains unchanged until summer’s end, the annual increase rate will not exceed 2.5%, compared to last summer’s 16,940 MWs, despite expectations of 4.5-5%.

The Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy is about to ease the state of alert it has maintained since the start of summer due to a record increase in electricity and water consumption, according to Al Rai newspaper.

Informed sources said that “the ministry is close to passing the current summer season and only has the next ten days left, until mid-August, after which the temperature will begin to gradually drop. The highest electrical load recorded this summer, 17,360 megawatts, was noted on July 13. According to reports from the Meteorology Department, the country will not witness severe heat waves during the next five days.”

The sources explained that “if the record number of 17,360 megawatts remains unchanged until the end of the summer season, the annual increase rate compared to the maximum load recorded last summer, which was 16,940 megawatts, will not exceed 2.5 percent, while expectations indicated that it would be between 4.5 and five percent.”

Noting that the ministry expected the load index to exceed the 17,500-megawatt barrier this summer, the sources attributed the low annual increase rate to the ministry’s strictness in collecting its financial dues for services, which contributes to rationalization, in addition to the cooperation of consumers during peak times.