Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi Electricity… A Crisis or a Test?

 

 

The Ministry of Energy issued a statement on Saturday outlining the extent of damage sustained by the electricity sector due to the war, affirming the continuation of rehabilitation works for power plants, transmission lines, and distribution networks, alongside efforts to improve electricity supply to vital facilities, expand renewable energy, and strengthen regional power interconnection.

 

The ministry’s statement appears to have come in the context of recent directives from the Security and Defense Council calling for the provision of electricity and water to citizens returning to their areas.

 

However, in its political reading, the statement appears closer to a “smart apology” to the Council, explaining the magnitude of the sector’s complexities, rather than a firm commitment to an immediate capacity to implement those directives. The ministry sought to present to public opinion the reality that the electricity crisis has gone beyond conventional remedies, becoming directly tied to the scale of destruction caused by the war, and to the need for an almost complete reconstruction of the sector under limited operational capacity and complex exceptional circumstances.

 

But the developmental reading of the crisis goes beyond what the ministry has outlined, because electricity is the backbone of the economy and a pillar of stability. Every power outage means a partial halt in agricultural and industrial production, disruption of health and education services, and erosion of citizens’ trust in state institutions. Thus, the electricity crisis has long remained trapped in a cycle of emergency management rather than strategic planning.

 

When examining the current situation, it is important not to reduce the picture to collapse alone, because Sudan’s electricity sector has in fact witnessed significant reforms and expansions over the past two decades. The Merowe Dam entered the grid with a capacity of about 1,250 MW, followed by the raising of the Roseires Dam adding around 450 MW, in addition to the Um Dabakir thermal power plant with a capacity of 500 MW, which at the time represented a major leap in national generation capacity.

 

Expansion was not limited to the national grid alone; it also extended to independent thermal generation in Darfur and Kordofan states with about 12 MW, in an attempt to address imbalances in service distribution between the center and the peripheries.

 

Further expansion projects continued through the Upper Atbara and Setit dams complex, adding 400 MW, in addition to extensive works at Garri (1) and (2) and Qallaneeb in the Red Sea State, operating on dual-fuel systems, within an operational plan expected to add about 900 MW to the national grid.

 

These projects were not mere routine expansions; they formed part of an ambitious strategic vision aimed at raising electricity production to around 10,000 MW by 2030, in response to an annual electricity demand growth estimated at 20%, driven by urban expansion, population growth, and development aspirations in agriculture, industry, and services.

 

However, political instability, power centers within the sector, shifting priorities, and conflicts surrounding electricity partnerships led to the disruption of that strategic path before its completion. The plan shifted from a long-term state project into fragmented emergency responses, while demand continued to grow at a pace faster than the grid’s ability to expand, maintain, and modernize.

 

The current war has exposed the fragility of the electricity infrastructure, but it has also opened a window for rethinking the sector. The world long ago moved beyond the idea of full government monopoly over electricity, shifting instead toward liberalizing generation and opening space for competition and investment, while the state retains its role in regulation, oversight, and ensuring equitable access to services.

 

Sudan today, according to experts, needs to move from a “grid management” mindset to an “energy market management” mindset. This transition cannot be achieved merely by allowing the private sector to generate electricity, but by activating the roles for which the Electricity Holding Company and the Technical Electricity Regulation and Control Authority were established, to organize the relationship between generation, transmission, and distribution. There are also ready financing opportunities through BOT systems, but benefiting from them remains dependent on a stable environment and a clear sector vision.

 

Investment in electricity cannot be driven by generalized decisions or emotional appeals to the private sector. Investors require a stable environment, clear laws, legal and financial guarantees, transparent tariffs, and open and fair transmission networks. Here lies the central dilemma: how can an investor enter the electricity market while the state still monopolizes transmission and distribution, and the regulatory framework remains unresolved?

Nevertheless, the Sudanese reality imposes a different and more flexible approach. The national grid already covers only a limited portion of the country, meaning there are vast areas that can become new markets for alternative energy, especially solar power, without waiting for the costly traditional expansion of centralized networks.

 

One of the paradoxes revealed by the war is that the spread of solar energy among citizens occurred faster than any previous official plans, as the conditions of blackout forced people to seek self-reliant survival solutions.

 

This experience, despite its challenges, confirms that Sudanese society has a practical readiness to adopt alternative energy if the appropriate environment and enabling legislation are provided.

 

In the context of the upcoming reconstruction phase, electricity becomes even more complex and more closely tied to the state’s political and economic decisions. Foreign companies expected to enter Sudan do not begin with questions about tax exemptions or investment land, but with a single question: how much stable electricity is available in the country? For investors, electricity is the first indicator of the state’s seriousness and its ability to secure production and support developmental resources.

 

Hence, according to Face of Truth, any talk of genuine reconstruction without a radical solution to the electricity crisis will remain incomplete. Future energy demand will not be limited to the residential sector, despite its social importance, but will extend primarily to agriculture and industry as the backbone of any forthcoming economic revival. That is the central question of our article: Electricity… A Crisis or a Test?

 

May you remain in health and well-being.

 

Monday, 25 May 2026

Shglawi55@gmail.