The Truth Perspective | Ibrahim Shaglawi Electricity… A Crisis of Decision, Not Generation
The electricity crisis in our country is no longer merely a technical problem related to insufficient generation capacity or faults in the power grid. Rather, it has become a reflection of the state’s approach to crisis management, the nature of economic decision-making, and the limits of strategic vision at a stage in which the priority is supposed to be rebuilding the state and restoring its productive capacity.
In modern states, electricity is not only a public service; it is also a pillar of national sovereignty, a driver of industry, agriculture, investment, ports, and public services, and an essential prerequisite for recovery. Therefore, the challenge lies not only in power outages but also in how a sector that represents the lifeblood of the state is managed. Energy security is not lost because of a lack of resources, but because of the failure of policies to translate those resources into productive choices.
In its latest statement, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum explained the continued power outages by citing increased demand due to the return of citizens to some areas, rising temperatures, the shutdown of several power generation stations for maintenance, difficulties in securing fuel and spare parts, the suspension of the electricity interconnection with Ethiopia, and the extensive damage inflicted by the war on power generation and transmission stations, as well as transmission and distribution networks. However, these explanations do not appear sufficient given the urgency of accelerating recovery and the complexity of the current challenges.
There is no doubt that the war has deepened the electricity crisis and caused severe damage to infrastructure. However, it is not the sole cause. The roots of the crisis lie in structural imbalances that predate the war, most notably the disruption of strategic projects, weak investment, and reliance on temporary emergency solutions. Despite the Ministry’s efforts to restore production capacity and rehabilitate generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, these measures remain responses to the consequences of the crisis rather than solutions to its underlying causes.
Electricity security cannot be built through maintenance alone. It requires a strategy based on localizing production, diversifying energy sources, securing fuel supplies, and linking electricity to development. Therefore, the Ministry of Energy’s announcement of the arrival of a 100-megawatt power generation barge, alongside a 50-megawatt land-based station, represents a continuation of the same costly emergency approach rather than a structural transformation in addressing the crisis, despite the Ministry’s confirmation that the company was selected through an international tender and that the winning bid was the least expensive compared to the previous contract.
In a previous article entitled “From Qurei to Kalanaib,” we discussed Prime Minister Dr. Kamel Idris’s visit to the project as an indication of the state’s return to strategic development projects. We explained that the 500-megawatt Kalanaib project is not merely a power station but an integrated project designed to strengthen electricity security in eastern Sudan. We also noted that its delay since the Siemens agreement in 2016 resulted from political and financing factors.
With the Ministry of Energy announcing the completion of the project through a Turkish company and the resumption of work at the station, it appeared that the direction was shifting toward building a permanent national asset instead of continuing to rely on emergency solutions. However, the arrival of a new power generation barge in Port Sudan raises an important question regarding the consistency between the announced strategic plans and what is actually being implemented on the ground. The issue is not the barge itself as a temporary emergency measure, but rather the lack of clarity regarding the fate of the Kalanaib project, which had been presented as the sustainable solution.
These questions do not represent distrust toward any party. Rather, they are part of the requirements of good governance, because the electricity sector should not be managed through inconsistent decisions. Instead, it requires clarity in priorities and transparency in the use of public funds.
The experience of the previous Turkish power barge has shown that temporary solutions can become permanent realities when national alternatives are absent. Power barges may be appropriate for emergencies, but they cannot serve as a permanent foundation for energy security because they depend on external contracts, high operating costs, and continuous reliance on fuel supplies and logistical services.
This is where the crisis of decision-making becomes evident. Sudan’s energy problem does not lie solely in insufficient generation capacity, but in the absence of a strategic vision for managing the sector. When a vital sector such as electricity is managed through emergency measures and competing power interests, the future becomes hostage to the present, resources are wasted, and public trust erodes. Citizens no longer see power outages merely as a service disruption; they see them as a test of the state’s ability to transform promises into achievements. Today, our country’s battle is not only about rebuilding infrastructure but also about restoring a productive state, and electricity will be the primary key to reviving industry, agriculture, ports, and life in our cities.
Therefore, according to #The_Truth_Perspective, Sudan’s electricity crisis is not merely a generation crisis; it is a crisis of vision and governance. The continued reliance on temporary emergency solutions while the country moves toward recovery calls for a comprehensive review of the energy sector in terms of efficiency, governance, transparency, and the reassessment of decisions and contracts, particularly as questions continue to mount regarding the management of this sector. A state preparing for reconstruction cannot remain trapped in merely buying time when it possesses the resources necessary to build sustainable energy security. The real equation is not between a power barge and a power station, but between an administration that postpones the crisis and a state that creates solutions. Energy security cannot be purchased temporarily; it must be built through strategic decisions that transform resources into productive power and independence for the future.
Stay well and in good health.
Saturday, July 25, 2026
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