CAIRO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The joint electricity grid between Egypt and Sudan will be put into use on Jan. 12 with an initial capacity of 50 megawatts, said a spokesman of Egypt's electricity ministry on Sunday.
"The grid voltage is 220 kv and covers a distance of about 1,000 km," said Ayman Hamza, spokesman of the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
Hamza noted that the grid capacity can be higher than 50 megawatts after future upgrade that the ministry is currently working on.
Earlier on Sunday, Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker said that the joint grid cost about 509 million Egyptian pounds (about 31.7 U.S. million dollars).
Shaker also told a conference in Cairo that the country managed to build 30 power stations in four years.
Commenting on the remarks, Hamza said that Egypt achieved a leap in power generation over the past few years, from former power shortage to power exportation.
He attributed the progress to the support of the political leadership that led to joint cooperation between ministries and institutions including the ministries of electricity, petroleum and finance as well as the armed forces.
