UAE official: GCC mulls expanding electricity networks to Arab and EU networks

The Gulf Cooperation Council is considering the possibility of expanding its power grid to Arab and European networks, a UAE official revealed yesterday.

The Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Energy and Chairman of the GCC Interconnection Authority, Dr Matar Hamed Al-Neyadi, told reporters that the GCC interconnection power grid has received several requests to connect with the eight members electric interconnection project which includes Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Libya as well as the Maghreb countries: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

The GCC interconnection power grid includes Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman.

“The authority is planning to expand the network to reach the European market by creating a market for energy trade with EU countries via Turkey,” Al-Neyadi said, pointing out that the GCC will import electricity from Europe during the summer season and export it in the winter.

According to Al-Neyadi, the other option would be to go through Morocco which has been linked to Europe through Spain since 2005.

The GCC Interconnection Authority was established in 2001, as a shareholding company with a capital of about $1.407 billion, distributed as 31.6 per cent for Saudi Arabia, 26.7 per cent for Kuwait, 15.4 per cent for the UAE , 11.7 per cent for Qatar, nine per cent for Bahrain, and 5.6 per cent for Oman.