Sudan’s army chief orders swift repairs at Merowe dam after fire

August 17, 2026 (MEROWE, Northern state) – Sudan’s army chief and head of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Sunday ordered authorities to accelerate repairs and tighten security at the Merowe Dam to restore stable electricity supplies.

A fire at the dam’s power station in early August knocked out main transmission lines, causing widespread blackouts across Khartoum, River Nile, Northern and Red Sea states.

Authorities brought thermal generating units online as an emergency measure while crews worked to replace damaged cables and reconnect the dam to the national grid.

Burhan inspected the facility on Sunday to review operations and ongoing rehabilitation work.

He instructed officials to expedite repairs and protect vital infrastructure to ensure reliable power for citizens.

Electricity was restored on Saturday to Khartoum, River Nile and Red Sea states after technical teams repaired damaged facilities, including a key transformer substation, following a nearly two-week outage.