Scorching Heat and Power Outages Deepen Sudan's Capital Crisis

Scorching heat, prolonged power outages deepen hardships in Khartoum

Khartoum, Aug 1

In the courtyard of a home in a neighbourhood in southern Khartoum, a family sits beneath the evening shade, waving paper fans to ease the oppressive heat after electric fans and cooling devices inside the house stopped working due to a prolonged power outage.

Kawthar Ahmed, the homemaker of the family, said frequent power outages have changed her family's daily routine, particularly amid soaring temperatures and prolonged electricity cuts.

"My brother is ill and needs a cool environment, but outages, which sometimes last for two days, only worsen his condition," she said.

"We organise our day around the electricity schedule. We charge our phones, run the water pump and try to preserve food whenever power returns, but the supply lasts only a few hours and alternatives are limited," she added.

For local resident Ruaa Omer, who has diabetes, the crisis also threatens the safe storage of essential medication. She said prolonged outages spoil refrigerated food and jeopardize the storage of insulin, adding that the loss of food or essential medication places an additional burden on already struggling families.

Abdul-Aleem Mohamed, a resident of southern Khartoum, said the situation has become increasingly difficult as temperatures rise, Xinhua news agency reported. "There is no cold water, you cannot keep food fresh for long, and everything in the house is affected whenever the electricity goes out," he said.

At a grocery store in southern Khartoum, owner Mohamed Ahmed Bashir said southern parts of the capital are among the hardest-hit areas, with outages sometimes lasting up to 48 hours.

"Spoiled goods mean direct financial losses, while operating generators significantly increases business costs," he said, adding that soaring fuel prices have made generators increasingly expensive while solar power remains unaffordable for many businesses.

At a dental clinic, dentist Ruaa Adil Mustafa said daily outages of up to 18 hours have severely disrupted operations because most clinic equipment depends on electricity.

"We are sometimes forced to suspend work or postpone certain cases until power returns, while running generators has sharply increased operating expenses because of high fuel prices," she said.

The combination of prolonged power outages and soaring temperatures has also raised growing health concerns. Health expert Osama Awadallah warned of increased risks of skin rashes, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Children, older adults and people with chronic illnesses are the most vulnerable, he said, urging residents to drink plenty of water, avoid direct exposure to the sun and remain in well-ventilated places whenever possible.

Energy expert Essam El-Din Al-Zein attributed the continued outages to declining electricity generation, the shutdown of power plants, weak transmission and distribution networks, and damage to electrical infrastructure, saying stable electricity supplies will require increased generation capacity, rehabilitation of power stations, and repairs to damaged transmission and distribution networks.

Meanwhile, Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum attributed the continued outages to rising demand driven by high temperatures, the return of residents and increased agricultural and industrial consumption, as well as maintenance shutdowns, among others.

It added that more than 260 megawatts have been restored to the national grid through maintenance, with available generation capacity expected to exceed 600 megawatts after ongoing rehabilitation.

— IANS