Iraq has completed about 80 percent of the necessary infrastructure to connect its electricity grid to the GCC Grid via Kuwait, a top government official said. Mudher Mohammed Saleh, Financial Advisor to the Iraqi government, told Zawya Projects that the government has advised the Ministry of Electricity to authorise the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) to complete the link from the Kuwait. He said the power lines from Kuwait would connect the country’s Al-Zour power plant with Iraq’s Al-Faw power plant. Saleh added that Iraq had signed an agreement with Jordan last year to link their power grids via Iraq’s Anbar province with a transfer capacity of about 600 megawatts. In August 2020, GE had announced the signing of a $727 million agreement with the electricity ministry to reinforce Iraq’s transmission network including interconnection with the electricity grid of Jordan. Saleh said the first phase of the project, which will link Jordan’s Al Risha power plant with Iraq’s Al Qaim substation through a 300-km power line, would be completed in 26 months, adding that a land survey is currently underway on the Iraqi side. In December 2020, Jordan Times had reported that a tender to expand Al Risha plant would be floated in early 2021. Saleh said that interconnection with the GCC Grid, Jordanian electricity grid and the Egyptian grid via Jordan would lay the foundation for an energy market in the Middle East for buying and selling electricity. Egypt, Jordan and Iraq had agreed to implement an interconnection project between the three countries with a total capacity of 1,000 MW at a trilateral summit in Amman in August 2020. (Reporting by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@refinitiv.com) Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here. © ZAWYA 2021
