HE Mohsen bin Hamad Al-Hadrami, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gulf Electrical Interconnection Authority participated in the celebration of the electrical interconnection between the city of Arar in the north of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Yusufia Region in the north of Baghdad the Capital of the Republic of Iraq with an initial capacity of 1000 Megawatts. The celebration was held under the auspices of HH Royal Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, in the presence of the Ministers of Energy and Electricity of the States of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
HE Mohsen bin Hamad al-Hadrami, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GCC Interconnection Authority said that the GCC Electrical Interconnection Project is considered one of the most significant projects of infrastructure interconnection approved by Their Majesties and Highnesses Leaders of GCC States.
HE added that year after year, the strategic Gulf project has achieved technical and economic benefits for the GCC States since it contributes to supporting in emergencies in order to spare the grids of the GCC States power failures through providing immediate support during emergencies by transferring the required power via the interconnection electrical grid that extends for a distance of about 1.050 Km from Kuwait to the sultanate of Oman.
HE mentioned that since its operation till now, the Project has supported about 2700 cases. It has also contributed to saving the GCC States a range of 200 to 300 million dollars annually. The accumulated savings for the GCC States since the start of the project have reached approximately 3 billion USD.
HE added that the project aims at fulfilling a part of the demand for electrical power in the South of Iraq with about 500 megawatts of energy from the GCC States through the Gulf electrical interconnection network as a first stage. The project will take about 24 months and is expected to be completed and operated by the end of the next year.
The GCC Secretary-General Jassim Al-Budaiwi said that the Gulf electrical interconnection is one of the most important projects of GCC infrastructures interconnection. It aims to face the incapability of electricity generation in emergency cases, reduce the generation reserves in the States Members, reduce carbon emissions, reduce the costs of establishing fiber optic networks, and provide the foundations of exchanging and trading electricity power among the States Members to serve the economic aspects and support the credibility of electrical supply as well as deal with the emergency crises.
He confirmed that the Project is one of the integrated projects that were established among the GCC States through the cooperation among the States Members and all are by virtue of Allah the Everlasting then by virtue of the noble directives of Their Majesties and Highnesses Leaders of GCC States may Allah protect them in order to make more achievements to serve the progress and development in the GCC States for achieving the aspirations and hopes of the citizens of GCC States.
He mentioned that the interconnection with the southern grid of the Republic of Iraq is one of the most important strategic projects of the GCC States since it will support the existing cooperation between the GCC States and the Republic of Iraq, enable Iraq to find sustainable alternatives for electrical power and achieve economic benefits for both sides by exporting electricity from the GCC States to Iraq.
The Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Electrical Interconnection Authority, Ahmed Al-Ibrahim confirmed that the Gulf Electrical Interconnection Authority and the Ministers of Energy in the GCC states have created a platform for power exchange since 2016. This will lead to achieving the Arabic dream after the interconnection with Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt which is “the Joint Arab Electricity Market”. He indicated that the next interconnection plan outside the GCC States is going to be with Jordan and then with Egypt. He added: “Now we are conducting a final interconnection feasibility study to reach Europe.
He pointed out that the Interconnection Authority leads the renewable energy alliances and the integration of renewable energy resources into electricity grids in the GCC States which have ambitious plans and projects for producing electrical power by renewable energy according to the best technologies according to the visions of Their Majesties and Highnesses Leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council.
He revealed the orientation to increase the investment volume in the Gulf electrical grid by the amount of 1.5 billion USD during the next five years. He also indicated that those investments contribute to supporting three mega projects represented in expanding the electrical interconnection with the State of Kuwait and the Emirates and the direct interconnection with the Sultanate of Oman. He affirmed that the investment increase in the Gulf electrical grid will raise the carrying capacity of the interconnection with those Gulf Countries.