The Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi Electricity… The Story of Secrets

The Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi

 

Electricity… The Story of Secrets

 

Behind every crisis lies a story, and behind every story are details that people do not see. In the crisis surrounding the outage of the Merowe Dam power station, the most important story was the management of the crisis, which succeeded in preventing the national grid from collapsing completely.

 

According to exclusive information obtained by The Face of Truth from a senior official at the Sudanese Electricity Transmission Company, the hours following the failure of the main 500 kV transformer and the feeder cable were not merely a race to restore power. Rather, they constituted a complex national crisis management operation, during which critical decisions were made to protect the national grid, secure strategic facilities, and prevent the outage from spreading under the exceptional circumstances imposed by the crisis and its challenges.

 

This information derives its significance from revealing an aspect that had remained absent from public view. In our previous article, “Electricity: A Crisis or a Conspiracy?”, our focus was on diagnosing the crisis, calling for a transparent investigation into the causes of the fire, and warning of the vulnerability of a sector that has become an integral part of the national security system. Today, however, the facts that have since emerged allow us to examine the other side of the crisis—how it was managed and what the country’s national expertise accomplished in containing its consequences.

 

The exclusive information obtained by The Face of Truth reveals that the first step was the issuance of Administrative Decision No. (14) of 2026, establishing the first National Electricity Grid Emergency Operations Room under the chairmanship of Engineer Tareq Khalifa Jaafar, with representatives from the transmission, generation, distribution, and the General Administration of Control and Operations. The essence of the decision was to establish a field command center responsible for managing the crisis moment by moment and directing available resources according to precise priorities until the stability of the national grid was restored.

 

The information further indicates that the priority was not restoring electricity to the residential sector, but rather protecting the facilities upon which the continuity of life depends. Accordingly, the Emergency Operations Room focused on securing electricity supplies for water stations and hospitals, considering them the first line of defense against the consequences of the crisis, before gradually moving to restore electricity to residential areas according to a schedule that took into account the available generation capacity while mitigating the impact of outages on citizens.

 

At the same time, transmission and control engineers carried out one of the most technically complex operations since the outbreak of the war. They successfully re-engineered power supply routes by utilizing the Setit and Upper Atbara stations (220 MW) and the Roseires station (240 MW), linking them to the Soba substation, in addition to integrating the power barge in Port Sudan (100 MW), followed by reinforcing the grid with an additional supply from the Garri station (90 MW) and Umm Dabakir (200 MW). These were strategic interventions that preserved the integrity of the national grid.

 

Thanks to these measures, Nile water pumping stations resumed operation through the national grid instead of relying on costly diesel generators. Thermal power stations were also restarted, while hospitals and essential service facilities regained electricity before power gradually returned to residential neighborhoods according to the schedule prepared by the Emergency Operations Room.

 

The information also reveals that the recovery efforts did not stop at activating alternative supplies. They extended to repairing eighteen collapsed transmission towers and maintaining a number of transformers, alongside the arrival of the required spare parts and equipment at the Merowe Dam power station, signaling the beginning of the final phase of comprehensive repairs and the restoration of the station to its full available operational capacity.

 

The exclusive information further indicates that the grid restoration plan has entered its final stage. Transformers in the Northern State are expected to return to service in the coming days following the completion of spare parts preparation, while the Omdurman and Atbara transmission lines are scheduled to resume operation successively during the coming week, indicating that emergency measures are giving way to the gradual and stable restoration of the national grid.

 

Highlighting these efforts does not contradict what we presented in our previous article; rather, it reinforces it. Our earlier discussion focused on the necessity of uncovering the causes of the fire, reviewing protection and maintenance systems, and strengthening the security of the electricity sector. This account documents the other side of the truth: despite limited resources and immense time pressure, Sudanese national expertise managed the crisis efficiently and prevented the collapse of the country’s electricity supply system.

 

Politically, this experience confirms that electricity is no longer merely a public service; it has become one of the pillars of national security. Targeting or disrupting it has direct repercussions on water security, public health, the economy, and social stability. Therefore, protecting the national grid is no longer the responsibility of a single ministry but a state issue that requires the integration of technical, security, and administrative efforts at the highest level.

 

The crisis also reveals another equally important reality: investing in people is no less valuable than investing in infrastructure. What happened proved that the available national expertise was the decisive factor in containing the crisis, and that preserving and developing engineering competencies must become an essential part of the state’s strategy for protecting its vital facilities.

 

Nor should success in managing the crisis be measured solely by the restoration of electricity supplies. It should instead mark the starting point for comprehensive sector reform. Following the extraordinary efforts made by the engineers of the Transmission Company, the government is now required to expedite the restoration of the step-up transformer at Merowe Dam so that the two halted generating units can resume operation and the station can return to its full capacity of 1,250 MW. At the same time, the commissioning of the Garri and Kalaneeb power stations, with a combined capacity of 900 MW, should be accelerated in order to enhance grid stability and prevent the recurrence of similar crises.

 

According to #TheFaceOfTruth, what happened at Merowe Dam should not be viewed merely as a story of secrets, emergency measures, or the end of a crisis. Rather, it should be seen as the beginning of a comprehensive review of Sudan’s electricity sector. Investigating the causes of the fire remains indispensable, while the success achieved in emergency management deserves recognition. Nevertheless, that success cannot substitute for building a stronger and more resilient system capable of withstanding future crises and safeguarding one of the country’s most critical pillars during the recovery and reconstruction phase.

 

Wishing you continued health and well-being.

 

Friday, August 7, 2026

 

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