Tenders for the $1.5 billion project linking the electricity grids of Saudi Arabia with Egypt will be floated by the first half of 2014, said the Saudi Transport, Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al Husayen. Minister Al Husayen further referred in his keynote speech at the 2013 Saudi Water & Power Forum (SWPF) on Sunday evening that the Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) (5110.SA) - the largest listed utility among the Gulf Arab states – and the Egyptian Electricity Holding Co. are set to sign the electricity grid interconnection and power exchange agreement within the next week. This comes as Egypt and Saudi Arabia had signed in June 2013 a six billion riyal ($1.6bn) agreement to link their electricity grids, a project that will allow power trading between the two countries. The Saudi minister added that that interconnection project entails construction of 1.250 km including a 20-kilometre long submarine cable traversing the Gulf of Aqaba, to consist of 500 kV multi-terminal high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Medina and Northern Cairo, through Tabuk. Moreover, the minister pointed out that the total cost of the project amounts to 5.6 billion riyal ($1.49 billion). "The agreement stipulates that each party cover the cost of required construction on its territory, with the exception of the submarine cable, whose cost will be shared equally by the parties," Minister Al Husayen added.
