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[00:00:00] The spoils will answer you
[00:00:10] Al-Jazirah
[00:00:44] and preparations have been made
[00:00:47] Well, of course, we have
[00:00:53] this
[00:01:01] we have
[00:01:05] cadres who have
[00:01:11] 25 to 30% of and knowledge in
[00:01:20] of the grid, some of which are in
[00:01:26] for example, in the White Nile, in
[00:01:28] because parts of
[00:01:31] Port Sudan, in
[00:01:39] I assumed this
[00:01:40] all fronts in
[00:01:54] Dear viewers everywhere, this is a new episode of
[00:01:57] Sudan Tonight and in it
[00:02:00] the evening
[00:02:06] with the American
[00:02:08] great work
[00:02:08] the cables discussion
[00:02:11] electricity, The electricity crisis
[00:02:14] temporary relief or permanent
[00:02:21] who do such a large-scale solutions
[00:02:26] approve North Darfur, field or gains strengthen the position of the armed forces.
[00:02:50] occur on
[00:02:53] Welcome back to Sudan tonight The electricity outage crisis continues in
[00:02:58] even in a number of Sudanese states amidst repeated
[00:03:01] power outages and increasing suffering of citizens and productive
[00:03:04] and service sectors Amidst
[00:03:06] the challenges of war and the pressure on the grid and technical faults
[00:03:09] questions arise about the true
[00:03:12] causes of the crisis and the extent of
[00:03:16] the time sabotage targeting infrastructure And what has the Ministry of Energy
[00:03:19] prepared in terms of urgent solutions and strategic plans
[00:03:22] to ensure the stability of electricity
[00:03:24] implications of this supply in the future I welcome engineer
[00:03:27] Mutasim Ibrahim, Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Petroleum
[00:03:31] Welcome, good evening, Mr. Minister
[00:03:34] Welcome May God bless you and
[00:03:38] thank you for your communication In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
[00:03:42] them with new transformers, And we pray and salute the beloved Prophet, peace
[00:03:45] be upon him
[00:03:50] Let us shed light on what happened
[00:03:54] but for it to happen in recently mentioned that this can happen in in the severe menstrual discharge from
[00:03:56] the network. Okay, Mr. Minister, let me
[00:04:00] ask a question that comes to mind
[00:04:04] of every follower How do you describe the current
[00:04:09] this situation of electricity supply in
[00:04:11] is present in Sudan? First,
[00:04:14] the electricity situation in Sudan is
[00:04:17] stable. They think it is stable.
[00:04:21] And of course, perhaps
[00:04:25] the volume of generation is affected by some intersections
[00:04:28] which include generation
[00:04:33] your efforts in this and transmission and the ability to distribute energy
[00:04:36] Uh, okay, of course, we
[00:04:40] uh, our generation is within
[00:04:45] cables reasonable limits, which is
[00:04:47] prevents the transition from about 200 megawatts And of course,
[00:04:50] وطبعا
[00:04:54] significant on we have
[00:04:54] and put them in some loads ready to be connected when
[00:04:58] some
[00:05:02] arrive. Okay, Mr. Minister, when we say that the electricity
[00:05:05] supply situation is stable, what does
[00:05:08] this term mean technically?
[00:05:12] When electricity is stable, it means
[00:05:16] there is generation
[00:05:19] and the network is
[00:05:20] continuously and there is
[00:05:24] improvement Okay, Mr. Minister, what are the sources
[00:05:28] of electricity here in Sudan? Are there other sources besides generation
[00:05:31] or through
[00:05:35] is also covered? Yes,
[00:05:37] we
[00:05:40] are talking.
[00:05:44] We are talking about
[00:05:48] the situation
[00:05:51] before the fault that
[00:05:53] affected
[00:05:56] the feeder cables from the Merowe Dam and its outage
[00:05:59] We
[00:06:02] say that our generation
[00:06:04] is
[00:06:06] why do we say stable and reasonable
[00:06:10] generation because
[00:06:14] means that cover
[00:06:17] the actual needs of the various sectors,
[00:06:20] whether residential, agricultural,
[00:06:23] or industrial or industrial
[00:06:26] And this, of course, is not
[00:06:30] usually available
[00:06:32] immediately immediately
[00:06:36] immediately because
[00:06:41] the network are affected as a result of
[00:06:44] sabotage or unusual
[00:06:48] faults or as a result of systematic
[00:06:51] targeting by the militia
[00:06:55] Okay, Mr. Minister, in the current
[00:06:58] electricity crisis and the recent outage of the Merowe Dam, specifically, what
[00:07:02] happened?
[00:07:05] We can explain to you
[00:07:08] or explain to the citizens
[00:07:12] what happened at the Merowe Dam
[00:07:15] Of course, the outage of the Merowe Dam was a result
[00:07:18] of a fire in feeding
[00:07:22] المغذيه
[00:07:24] most of the areas of the Ghaddaf
[00:07:28] which consists of
[00:07:31] about 16
[00:07:34] large cables
[00:07:38] affected by the fire
[00:07:41] and some of them are currently available,
[00:07:45] for example,
[00:07:48] the Northern State cable, which feeds
[00:07:51] almost the agricultural sector's needs
[00:07:55] And this, of course, is secured, and God willing,
[00:07:57] it will enter
[00:08:01] in a short time. The rest of the cables
[00:08:05] were affected and need
[00:08:07] work and preparation and
[00:08:11] cutting and some parts
[00:08:13] and equipment Of course, we,
[00:08:17] as soon as we were informed or as soon as we knew
[00:08:21] about the occurrence of that fault, we rushed
[00:08:24] to the Merowe Dam, and I, God willing, arrived at
[00:08:29] when the fire was extinguished
[00:08:32] And the site
[00:08:36] was evacuated The site was evacuated
[00:08:39] And when we arrived, of course, the purpose was
[00:08:45] to assess the extent of the damage
[00:08:48] and how to repair it in
[00:08:51] a timely or short period
[00:08:55] Okay, Mr. Minister, what are the causes of the fire?
[00:08:59] The causes of the fire are various, of course,
[00:09:02] and include the technical aspect and some other
[00:09:06] aspects that have not been identified yet. Of course, we,
[00:09:09] as soon as we arrived at the dam,
[00:09:13] we ordered
[00:09:16] quickly to form an investigation
[00:09:18] committee to know
[00:09:22] the reasons that led to this unusual
[00:09:25] fire And of course,
[00:09:29] we rushed We rushed to take
[00:09:33] the necessary measures to repair
[00:09:36] the fault as quickly as possible
[00:09:39] Uh-huh, what does it take to repair the fault now, Mr.
[00:09:42] Minister? The fault needs, the fault needs
[00:09:46] some assistance
[00:09:49] and we communicated with
[00:09:53] the Sudanese Embassy in China
[00:09:55] and at the same time
[00:09:58] we communicated with the Ambassador
[00:10:01] and contacted the manufacturer and prepared
[00:10:04] the requirements
[00:10:07] the appropriate
[00:10:09] picture for very quick shipment
[00:10:12] And these
[00:10:15] equipment
[00:10:17] and accessories
[00:10:20] will depart today at 5 PM and arrive tomorrow
[00:10:23] الخامسه وتصل غدا.
[00:10:27] at 5 AM at Cairo Airport
[00:10:30] And then they will be
[00:10:33] shipped by another plane
[00:10:36] to Merowe Dam. How long
[00:10:40] will the maintenance process take and the return of electricity
[00:10:43] and the return of these cables to operation? Yes, indeed,
[00:10:47] upon the arrival of this equipment,
[00:10:50] as soon as it arrives at Merowe,
[00:10:53] work will begin on connecting
[00:10:56] these cables because
[00:10:59] when we arrived, we put in place a clear
[00:11:02] work plan And
[00:11:05] we provided
[00:11:09] and made available the human resources
[00:11:12] and skilled and competent cadres who
[00:11:16] were previously trained on
[00:11:18] work And we supported
[00:11:21] them
[00:11:24] with additional human
[00:11:27] resources for cleaning, cutting,
[00:11:29] and preparation
[00:11:32] and setting up for work
[00:11:35] as soon as this equipment
[00:11:39] and accessories arrive and
[00:11:44] the warehouses at Merowe Dam.
[00:11:47] Okay, Mr. Minister, have
[00:11:51] these cables ever been exposed to this type of intensity
[00:11:55] before, or is this a new phenomenon this time?
[00:11:58] Well, of course, I have investigated it.
[00:12:02] Of course, since position,
[00:12:05] the position of Minister of Energy
[00:12:09] and Petroleum, I reviewed some reports
[00:12:12] of similar incidents, but
[00:12:15] not, of course, in the main dams,
[00:12:18] except for an incident that occurred in Al-Roseires and in
[00:12:22] transformers or attempts
[00:12:26] in some substations
[00:12:29] that had fires that were
[00:12:33] unexpected or unusual, and they
[00:12:36] exceed more than 10 incidents
[00:12:40] before, but
[00:12:42] incident
[00:12:45] has not occurred.
[00:12:48] However, generally, in
[00:12:50] most known
[00:12:56] cases worldwide,
[00:12:59] there are always reasons for
[00:13:02] these fires, and I believe
[00:13:06] that the main comment on this is that
[00:13:09] we have the ability, experience,
[00:13:12] and competence to restore electricity
[00:13:15] to what it was
[00:13:19] and to its normal state. And we
[00:13:23] also confirm that we have taken
[00:13:28] the necessary steps
[00:13:31] for alternative feeding
[00:13:35] which we supported
[00:13:37] by introducing
[00:13:41] a large amount of thermal power
[00:13:44] plants Okay, Mr. Minister, what are the
[00:13:49] fault and these fires in these specific cables
[00:13:53] in these large dams for the first
[00:13:55] time?
[00:14:02] Yes, Mr. Minister, were you listening?
[00:14:05] Yes, yes, the question is, yes, what are the implications of these
[00:14:08] fires occurring in these large cables for the first
[00:14:12] time in these large dams? You
[00:14:16] substations,
[00:14:19] large
[00:14:21] dams like the Merowe Dam, what are the implications of this from
[00:14:26] a technical perspective? The fault
[00:14:30] distinguishes it from other faults and fires
[00:14:34] that occurred even in the Al-Roseires Dam is that the area
[00:14:38] where it occurred and
[00:14:41] the equipment and cables that were affected by it
[00:14:45] are, meaning,
[00:14:48] it is not expected for
[00:14:51] this fire to occur there. However,
[00:14:56] the fire occurred in a critical
[00:14:59] area. This area is critical and in a very
[00:15:02] narrow area when the
[00:15:06] turbine
[00:15:10] of the feeding came out
[00:15:14] Therefore, its impact was very
[00:15:19] the supply across
[00:15:20] the Ghaddaf
[00:15:23] Okay, Mr. Minister, from your follow-up and
[00:15:27] from the investigations and technical data,
[00:15:31] to what extent do these investigations or technical data indicate
[00:15:34] the existence of sabotage or deliberate
[00:15:38] targeting of some components
[00:15:41] of the network? Well, we have not,
[00:15:44] of course, started the investigation in its comprehensive form, which is the security
[00:15:48] and technical and technical form. However,
[00:15:52] we have formed investigation teams and we do not
[00:15:56] rule out any
[00:15:59] possibility.
[00:16:01] A possibility that is likely
[00:16:05] based on the investigation
[00:16:08] work and the course of the investigation.
[00:16:12] Mr. Minister, let me ask how you distinguish between technical
[00:16:16] and natural faults and faults
[00:16:19] resulting from sabotage
[00:16:22] and targeting?
[00:16:25] security cadres
[00:16:28] present at the dam
[00:16:31] and available under the command
[00:16:35] of the security agencies
[00:16:37] and intelligence agencies. We have
[00:16:43] the experience
[00:16:45] investigation
[00:16:48] and assessments to
[00:16:52] determine the causes of what happened, whether
[00:16:55] it involved an element of
[00:16:59] sabotage or security targeting. So, what
[00:17:02] is it? We, of course, know very well
[00:17:06] that we are in a time
[00:17:10] when the victories of the armed
[00:17:13] forces are increasing on
[00:17:18] the Okay, Mr. Minister,
[00:17:21] some believe that these faults and this
[00:17:25] targeting coincide clearly
[00:17:27] with the advances of the armed forces and their victories and achieving
[00:17:31] gains on the ground. How do you comment on this view and these
[00:17:35] allegations? We all know very
[00:17:38] well that these
[00:17:41] victories and this
[00:17:45] that we have done, even in to restore it to its normal state
[00:17:49] and rehabilitate and rebuild the grid,
[00:17:53] this is targeted
[00:17:56] by many
[00:17:59] not like
[00:18:01] do not of
[00:18:05] this work
[00:18:07] and reconstruction and rehabilitation and stability
[00:18:11] for this country Okay, Mr. Minister,
[00:18:15] in your opinion, what are the most vulnerable sites or facilities
[00:18:18] to faults during the past period?
[00:18:21] Well, we are talking about
[00:18:24] the faults that
[00:18:27] the grid, the grid that
[00:18:30] is in the substations And you know that there are
[00:18:32] a very large number of
[00:18:36] substations that were targeted
[00:18:40] And in order to restore them to service,
[00:18:43] we may resort to,
[00:18:46] meaning, something called
[00:18:50] using some spare parts from some
[00:18:53] transformers to complete or
[00:18:56] prepare other transformers for operation
[00:19:00] And of course, this work is not
[00:19:04] a complete work
[00:19:07] meaning, and some risks and so on.
[00:19:10] But, but, but we have a plan
[00:19:12] to import these transformers
[00:19:16] and replace
[00:19:20] especially the capacity transformers
[00:19:23] that you see in the
[00:19:26] substations And these transformers, we have
[00:19:29] repeatedly stated that they require a very
[00:19:33] long time
[00:19:35] to design
[00:19:37] and prepare the raw materials, manufacture them,
[00:19:41] and conduct the necessary tests
[00:19:43] and ship them. This takes a long time,
[00:19:46] which is why we are working
[00:19:49] with alternative transformers.
[00:19:52] They are not complete, as I said,
[00:19:56] but they work, and God willing, these transformers are on
[00:19:58] their way in batches
[00:20:02] to rehabilitate the grid and restore it to normal operation. Okay,
[00:20:06] Mr. Minister, how do you assess the performance of the grid
[00:20:09] based on production,
[00:20:13] transmission, and distribution? Where does the real
[00:20:16] problem lie so far? Well, the real problem
[00:20:20] is obvious to everyone
[00:20:23] who is
[00:20:26] reasonable. We had
[00:20:30] sabotage, we had widespread
[00:20:34] destruction across the grid
[00:20:38] in all aspects. For example, we are talking about
[00:20:40] cables thousands
[00:20:43] of kilometers long that we lost,
[00:20:46] and about 14 thousand transformers in Khartoum state
[00:20:49] alone Umm
[00:20:52] And we, you know, if you
[00:20:55] traveled throughout the country or in Khartoum or in
[00:21:00] or in you would see
[00:21:04] poles and carriers
[00:21:08] The carriers and accessories are destroyed and
[00:21:11] sabotaged and so on. We believe
[00:21:14] that we have been able, with great
[00:21:17] effort and continuous work, we have
[00:21:21] the energy and lighting
[00:21:23] for a very large
[00:21:27] part of this
[00:21:29] grid, the grid that was ravaged by destruction
[00:21:33] and we rehabilitated it with great effort,
[00:21:36] great effort. And now we are rebuilding
[00:21:40] it. And we believe that we have
[00:21:42] progressed rapidly,
[00:21:46] rapidly in reconstruction and the mayor of Khartoum, four or five
[00:21:51] months ago, knows that very
[00:21:54] well,
[00:21:56] that we have achieved
[00:22:00] a lot, and perhaps many people commented on this
[00:22:04] as almost an achievement, but we are working, of course, in
[00:22:07] all parts
[00:22:10] in the remote areas, for example, rehabilitation, for example,
[00:22:13] in Debaker,
[00:22:16] the thermal power plants located here, in
[00:22:21] the power plants located,
[00:22:24] and we have used some barges, and also
[00:22:28] we have actually
[00:22:31] started implementing three solar
[00:22:34] power plants, and they will, God willing,
[00:22:37] enter the grid in a reasonable
[00:22:40] time. We also have an electrical
[00:22:44] interconnection, God willing, that will increase
[00:22:47] and be a strong support for the grid.
[00:22:50] I am very sure, I am saying this from
[00:22:54] here, that if we achieve our current
[00:22:57] projects, God willing, our position
[00:23:01] will be a suitable
[00:23:04] and very good
[00:23:07] position. Okay, Mr. Minister, what will
[00:23:10] these solar power plants
[00:23:13] provide in terms of energy and what
[00:23:17] deficit will they cover? We
[00:23:20] started here with solar power plants
[00:23:24] in three areas,
[00:23:27] with a capacity of 10 megawatts and a capacity of
[00:23:30] 20 megawatts, for example, in Dongola, and a capacity of 50 megawatts in
[00:23:34] Kalanaib, in Port Sudan. And these power plants,
[00:23:38] these capacities that I mentioned to you
[00:23:42] are estimated capacities, and most of them, God willing,
[00:23:45] will operate
[00:23:48] the future in the agricultural sector
[00:23:51] from what it needs of solar energy.
[00:23:54] This is in addition to the fact that we have provided
[00:23:58] solar energy with exemptions
[00:24:01] and easy financing for everyone, even the residential
[00:24:05] sector and others. Okay, Mr. Minister,
[00:24:09] what will be achieved by relying on solar energy,
[00:24:12] and Sudan is known to be a country
[00:24:15] that enjoys sunlight throughout
[00:24:18] the year? Of course, we are talking about
[00:24:22] this country being blessed by God with abundant
[00:24:26] solar energy And as I mentioned before, in several
[00:24:30] occasions, that we
[00:24:33] have sunlight,
[00:24:36] we have about 12 hours
[00:24:40] And we are targeting we are targeting
[00:24:43] about
[00:24:45] a third
[00:24:48] of the available energy. In the coming
[00:24:51] years, it will be available from
[00:24:55] renewable energy sources. And of course,
[00:24:59] trend
[00:25:01] many parts of the world,
[00:25:04] especially in Africa, which enjoys
[00:25:08] mostly sunny weather for most
[00:25:11] of the day. Okay, Mr. Minister,
[00:25:14] there are
[00:25:17] clean energy projects.
[00:25:21] Yes, what are
[00:25:23] direction
[00:25:26] and to what extent are you capable of this, whether it is wind
[00:25:29] energy or solar energy or others?
[00:25:33] We can invite people to,
[00:25:36] meaning, visit our sites. In the city of Shendi,
[00:25:39] work began there
[00:25:42] and
[00:25:44] soil tests were completed, and work began on installing
[00:25:48] the supports
[00:25:50] for installing
[00:25:53] solar panels over
[00:25:56] an area of 160
[00:25:59] thousand square meters And nearby. Also,
[00:26:03] there was a station where work began in the city of
[00:26:06] Dongola It is
[00:26:09] twice the capacity available in Shendi
[00:26:13] And next to it directly
[00:26:16] is a wind turbine, which is wind energy,
[00:26:20] which is currently in the process
[00:26:23] of small-scale testing. And it
[00:26:27] is the beginning of a 100
[00:26:30] megawatt wind energy project.
[00:26:33] This clearly proves that we are capable
[00:26:37] of implementing these projects, given that
[00:26:40] work has truly begun on them,
[00:26:46] for the lines and connecting them to
[00:26:49] the network. Okay, Mr. Minister, what will these
[00:26:52] alternative energy alternatives
[00:26:55] provide to the state if they are relied
[00:26:59] upon? I tell you that
[00:27:03] in countries that are almost completely dark, renewable
[00:27:06] energy in many European countries
[00:27:09] accounts for about
[00:27:13] the total energy, and this saves
[00:27:16] us. Solar energy provides fuel.
[00:27:20] Each energy unit is fuel
[00:27:23] in agriculture. Instead of going to buy
[00:27:26] diesel and run engines
[00:27:29] and maintenance, if you
[00:27:33] were able to
[00:27:37] utilize solar energy for irrigation,
[00:27:40] lighting, and even daily services,
[00:27:44] this would contribute effectively to
[00:27:48] providing energy to others. And Sudan is known
[00:27:51] to have about 40 to
[00:27:54] 60% of its population not having
[00:27:57] electricity. Okay, Mr. Minister,
[00:28:00] returning to these faults and the Ministry's efforts
[00:28:04] to reach and repair, what are the most prominent
[00:28:08] challenges facing maintenance teams
[00:28:11] to reach fault locations?
[00:28:15] We have trained and experienced
[00:28:19] cadres
[00:28:20] available
[00:28:24] 24/7 to prevent these
[00:28:26] faults. And we have statistics
[00:28:30] that indicate
[00:28:33] that the number
[00:28:36] of faults in such exceptional
[00:28:39] circumstances is not
[00:28:43] that many or as
[00:28:47] people imagine. And as we move
[00:28:50] forward in rehabilitating the grid and building, such faults will decrease.
[00:28:54] And we, of course, also want people to
[00:28:57] know that besides sabotage and destruction,
[00:29:00] we lost a large number of
[00:29:03] cadres.
[00:29:07] Okay, Mr. Minister, what are the urgent measures taken by
[00:29:10] the Ministry to reduce the hours of power
[00:29:13] outage? I mean, I spoke
[00:29:16] with you. We have now
[00:29:20] implemented an alternative supply, and people
[00:29:24] have felt and realized
[00:29:27] the extent of the alternatives that
[00:29:30] we have provided for basic services
[00:29:33] and for all sectors, residential, agricultural, and others.
[00:29:37] Yes, we are now seeing
[00:29:40] that we have been able
[00:29:42] to introduce, as I said,
[00:29:46] additional stations
[00:29:49] and additional
[00:29:51] thermal energy. We have introduced
[00:29:55] it. And also,
[00:29:57] we have utilized the reservoirs
[00:30:01] that, for example,
[00:30:05] like the Sitit Dam, increased
[00:30:08] its generation
[00:30:10] from 40 to nearly
[00:30:14] 100 and more.
[00:30:18] And also, we have provided
[00:30:21] spare parts and assistance
[00:30:23] to increase the Al-Saj Dam,
[00:30:27] the Sennar Dam. And by the way, these dams
[00:30:30] we have projects, if
[00:30:34] suitable conditions and funding are available,
[00:30:37] God willing, we will flood this country with
[00:30:40] this country with energy
[00:30:43] and sufficient energy.
[00:30:46] Okay, Mr. Minister, what
[00:30:49] radical solutions to these emergency solutions permanently?
[00:30:53] Well, I don't want to explain
[00:30:56] much, but of course, there are overlaps.