Saudi-Egypt 3,000-Megawatt Interconnector Project to be Revived

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A power transmission project between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which was originally scheduled to begin construction in 2012 but was stalled due to the turmoil in Egypt, is now coming up for review and a go-ahead decision from the Saudi Cabinet. The Cabinet's clearance will allow the project to move on to the finalization of the terms of the commercial agreement and the initiation of bidding for the construction of the project.

The interconnection project covers the construction of a 1,400-kilometer, 500-kilovolt (kV) DC link from the 500-kV Badr substation to the 380-kV Medina East substation. An intermediate 380-kV substation will also be constructed at Tabuk, in northwest Saudi Arabia. The interconnector will have a transfer capacity of 3,000 megawatts (MW).

The state-owned Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Egyptian Electric Holding Company (EEHC) will finance, own and operate parts of the grid in their respective countries.

The link will allow the two countries to capitalize on the differences in their peak power demand times. It will also facilitate trade and lead to cost savings of about $3.7 billion. With the completion of the Mediterranean Ring project and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) grid, the interconnector will act as a link between the two mega-grids, connecting countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

In the original plan, commissioning of the link was set for 2015, but a new completion date has not yet been announced.

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