The government electricity authority in the city of Aden, southern Yemen, warned on Sunday that more than 80% of the generation capacity would completely stop within two days due to the impending depletion of fuel for power stations, as a result of the delayed arrival of the fourth batch of Saudi oil grants. The Aden Electricity Authority stated in a statement that the remaining diesel fuel in the tanks of Aden refineries is barely enough for just two days, which will lead to increased hours of electricity cuts and plunge the city, declared a temporary capital of the country, into total darkness. The statement warned that the depletion of fuel threatens to halt all diesel-operated power generation stations, which represent over 80% of electricity generation in Aden.
Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government against the Houthi group, announced in March a grant of petroleum derivatives to Yemen amounting to 351,304 tons of mazut and 909,591 tons of diesel, valued at $422 million, to operate over 80 power stations in the provinces under the control of the Yemeni government. Several batches of the Saudi oil derivatives grant have arrived in Aden, Hadramout, and Mahra provinces in the past three months. However, the Saudi authorities have set conditions for the continuation of the oil grant, the most prominent of which is the Yemeni government's implementation of structural and financial reforms in the ailing sector. Residents in Aden told Reuters that electricity cut hours reached five hours on Sunday.
