Sudan to extend electricity grid to Darfur

The Sudanese Electricity Transmission Company signed an agreement with the Shanghai Electric Group Company in Shanghai in China on Thursday, for the linking of the Babanusa-Adila power line to the national electricity grid.

Sudanese newspapers reported on Thursday that the power line between Babanusa in West Kordofan to Adila in East Darfur will be constructed by Shanghai Electric at a cost of $50 million.

The Jedda branch of the Saudi Arabian Islamic Development Bank will fund the project, which is to be completed within 24 months.

The signing of an agreement with the Chinese company to extend the line from Adila, through Ed Daein, to Nyala in South Darfur is expected to take place early next year. Beijing, Arabic funds, and private donors will finance the project, the newspapers stated.

Early last week, the Sudanese cabinet proposed to raise the electricity tariff by 100 percent. In a meeting of the parliamentarian Energy Committee with the Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Mutaz Mousa, on Monday, the Minister said that the current electricity tariff does not cover the production costs.

He proposed to “set up a dialogue” between the concerned state agencies and the citizens to find a solution for the low-income sectors and the high-consumption sectors.