Gulf power network to cost $1.6 billion , UAE to hook up in 2011
A project to link the power grids of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE will cost $1.6 billion, a senior official from the body overseeing interconnection said yesterday.
The full construction of the grid is expected to be completed by 2012, said Yousif Janahi, the chairman of the GCC Interconnection Auth-ority (GCCIA).
Gulf countries hope the power connection project will help them meet rapidly rising power demand and avoid power outages.
The UAE will hook up to the grid in 2011, the GCCIA said in July.
The power deal was discussed at the meeting yesterday of Gulf nations in Kuwait.
Before the meeting, an agreement was reached on a time frame for the planned Gulf single currency, said a report quoting a senior Kuwait official.
"Gulf foreign ministers agreed on a time frame for the planned currency at the end of an early morning meeting set to prepare the agenda for the key summit," Kuwaiti foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled Al Jarallah, was quoted as saying by the official KUNA news agency.
The monetary union and the power grid are both expected to be high on the agenda at the two day summit.
Leaders of the six-nation GCC are also expected to explore ways they can boost their economies following the global financial crisis.
Kuwait's Finance Minister Mustafa Al Shamali on Sunday urged his GCC counterparts to work together in order to contain ongoing fallout from the financial crisis.
"Global economic indicators in the second half of the current year require us to work together to avert any additional consequences of the crisis," he said.
Analysts had speculated that Dubai's debt situation would also be under discussion, but a Dubai government statement yesterday said that Dubai World had received $10 billion to aid its restructure.
© 7Days 2009
