MEED magazine reported that companies are preparing to submit bids by May 16 for a contract to design and build a 400 kV power transmission tower linking the city of Wafra in Kuwait to the Fadhili district of Saudi Arabia. The project belongs to the Electricity Interconnection Authority of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which oversees the exchange of electricity between the six countries.
According to MEED Projects data that tracks regional project activity, the list of companies that qualified for the project includes KEC International, Calpataro Energy Transmission and Larsen & Toubro, the three Indian companies, in addition to the Kuwaiti National Contracting Company, the Austrian Cegelec and the Arab Company for Construction, Kuwaiti electricity transmission lines, reports a local Arabic daily.
The Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on March 24 that the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development signed a financing agreement worth 35 million dinars (equivalent to 115 million dollars) with the Gulf Cooperation Council, and it is understood that the exchange of electricity on the GCC grid is growing by about 15-20% annually. Proportional savings by member states amounted to an estimated $192 million in 2021, compared to $182 million in 2020, according to a local media report.
MEED noted that the six GCC countries have achieved a cumulative savings of $3 billion since the network began operations in 2009. The savings are consistent with reductions in operating and maintenance expenses, costs related to energy management, carbon emissions and the construction of fiber optic networks. The actual scale of power trading in the GCC has not been disclosed, although data in the public domain indicates interconnection ranges between 500 MW and 600 MW, and MEED has learned that the interconnection primarily meets contingency and reserve sharing through Bilateral contracts.
