Update: Up to 90% of power restored, says electricity company chief

At least 90 percent of the power stations disabled by a cut earlier on Thursday were functioning normally by the evening, according to Gaber Desouki, head of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company. 

Current power capacity is at 18,000 megawatts, while overall demand has reached a maximum of 24,000 megawatts, Desouki told the state owned Al-Ahram news site. The 6,000 megawatt-shortage alternates between two main lines.

After a several hour-long blackout darkened much of the country early in the day, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker apologized in a statement carried by local media outlets, and promised that a power outage of this severity would not occur again.

After the massive power cut was announced, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb declared that an operation room would handle the situation and those responsible would be held accountable.

The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company said that a technical malfunction caused the unplanned power cuts in several regions nationwide. 

The privately owned satellite channel CBC Extra had stated earlier on Thursday morning that the metro had stopped between Helwan and Sayeda Zeinab. 

Meanwhile, privately owned newspaper Al-Shorouk had reported that the power cut would not affect the stock market.

Stock market chief Mohamed Omran said, “I would expect the power cut to affect dealing throughout the day, but not the main direction of the market,” as the authorities had alternative power sources for such moments.