Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A debt-ridden National Electricity Co. has drawn up a contingency plan to meet a higher-than-usual demand in summer expected when visitors to the Kingdom will double, further stretching the grid.

The government-owned company is struggling under an unprecedented debt brought by a cut in Egyptian gas supplies that feed the country's power plants, forcing them to rely on costlier sources, such as diesel oil and heavy fuel. Egypt has pledged to restore pumping halted by more than a dozen blasts that ravaged the Sinai Desert pipeline since February 2011.

During a tour of the company's control room which provides round-the-clock monitoring of the grid and operations nationwide, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Alaa Batayneh urged the company to ensure that no power outages will occur during the summer peak hours.

In a meeting with the company's board, the minister was briefed on plans to face the predicted high loads and ensure no cuts will occur.

Batayneh urged officials to seek other electric power alternatives by giving priority to renewable energy and urged the private sector to invest in the sector.



*Petra