Officials of GCCIA and Iraq sign the landmark agreement.
GCCIA eyes grid extension to Jordan, Egypt after Iraq
01 November 2024
the operation of the GCC power grid connection with Iraq will begin, by early 2025 enabling Gulf countries to supply the West Asian nation with 3.94 terawatt-hours annually. This represents a promising step toward reaching Turkey, Europe, and the entire world, said senior GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) officials at a ceremony held at its headquarters in Dammam last month where a landmark agreement was signed with Iraq connecting it to the Gulf power market.
With the Iraq scheme reaching its fruition next year, the focus is now on expanding the grid further to include its neighbours – Jordan and Egypt.
Tangible steps have been taken through the signing of MoUs to explore the possibility of connecting it with Jordan and Egypt after Iraq, revealed the GCCIA officials at the signing ceremony held under the sponsorship of Prince Saud bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Province.
At the event, Prince Saud also launched a project for the upgradation of the systems of GCCIA Control Centre, mainly aimed at helping improve the efficiency and resilience of the electricity grid as well as addressing the current and future challenges.
The new systems also incorporate advanced cybersecurity measures, protecting against increasing cyber threats and ensuring continuous and safe operations.
Since its official launch in 2009, the Gulf electricity interconnection project is said to have generated savings of $3.6 billion, compared to investment and operational costs of around $1.5 billion.
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