CAIRO, Sept 5 (Aswat Masriya) - Up to 90% of the capacity of the national electric grid has been restored, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker said, adding that it will be restored to full capacity on Friday.

Shaker assured that the crisis has been overcome based on "sound" scientific and technical grounds in order to avoid its recurrence, state-run MENA agency reported.

Egypt witnessed a major power outage on Thursday as result of a technical malfunction causing the loss of 45 per cent of the grid's capacity. This has led to blackouts across several parts of Egypt for long hours, angering citizens.

Two metro lines have also gone out of service temporarily on Thursday morning due to power outage, Spokesman of the Metro Movement Ahmed Abdel Hadi said. This caused overcrowding of citizens and congested traffic.

Most governorates suffer blackouts almost on a daily basis for a period of one to two hours, due to the government's inability to secure gas for generating electricity.