A power cut is conducted at Elmarag City in Maadi, Cairo, in this July 27, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)
A major power outage has been ongoing in various parts of Cairo and other governorates since early Thursday morning.
Electricity Minister Ahmed Shaker told ONTV channel that the massive outage was due to technical problems and not a terrorist attack.
Supply would return back to normal within few hours, he added.
According to a statement by Egypt's electricity holding company, at 6:15am a technical malfunction took place at Cairo's "500-kilowatt" electricity transformer substation, leading to an electricity blackout in various parts of the city.
Ministry spokesperson Mohamed El-Yamani said earlier that the problem was caused by maintenance works and efforts to shift power loads in some areas of Cairo.
Cairo Stock Exchange head Mohamed Omran said the market had not been affected by the outage, and trading had continued as normal due to the operation of emergency generators.
The outage halted trains on three Cairo and Giza metro lines. Services are now back to normal.
Al-Hayat, ONTV and some CBC channels were affected by the outage that started at around 7am.
Additional power generators are being used at media city to allow channels to broadcast.
People in various parts of Giza and Cairo also suffered cuts to their water supply.
Water company spokesperson Mohi El-Serafy told ONTV channel that the water cuts were caused by the power outages and that the company was working on the problem by using additional fuel-powered generators.
Social media users have reported power outages in various governorates from Alexandria to Aswan since early morning.
Power supply was affected for several hours in Minya, Assiut , Beni Suef , Fayoum and Wadi-Al-Gadid.
Egypt has suffered from power crises for several years but things are at their worst this summer.
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