Drone strikes leave Sudan’s power grid increasingly dependent on a handful of stations
Drone strikes have hit electricity infrastructure across Sudan, including substations in Al-Dabbah and Abu Hamad, where Sunday’s attacks cut power, according to AP News. Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said 15 facilities were targeted in October; the Sudanese government and the group blamed the Rapid Support Forces, which did not immediately comment to AP. The outages have disrupted water supplies and businesses and threatened hospitals, medicine storage and irrigation.
Bottom line — Emergency Lawyers counted 15 electricity facilities attacked in October, as Sudan’s grid faces further strain.
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AP News reported that electricity generation had already fallen from 4,400 megawatts before the war to 1,100 megawatts.
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An employee of Sudan Electric Holding Company told AP News that the Merowe Dam now supplies more than 70% of the country’s electricity.
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AP News said attacks on 15 substations since early October have left the grid dependent on a handful of plants.
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The Sudan Doctors Network warned AP News that outages threaten hospitals, dialysis centres, blood banks and refrigerated medicines and vaccines.
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AP News reported that Al-Dabbah’s outage shut markets, hospitals and bakeries, while farmers faced disruption to electricity-dependent irrigation.
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Asharq Al-Awsat reported that former energy minister Adel Ibrahim estimated only three principal stations remained in service; he warned repairs could take considerable time.
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Sudan’s Foreign Ministry accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying drones and Ethiopia of allowing them to be launched from its territory, AP News reported. The UAE has denied arming the RSF.