Head of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) will hold meetings with ABB, Siemens, and Alstom to discuss the technical notes on the transformers tender that will be used for the Egyptian-Saudi electricity linkage project. A source at EETC said that envelopes containing technical notes are due to be opened on September 18. He explained that the Egyptian-Saudi electricity linkage project is composed of three tranches. The first is establishing two 500 KV alternating current to direct current transformers in Badr City, as well as a station for the aero line connection with the marine cable in Nabaq, Saudi Arabia. This phase, the source added, is consulted with Transgrid Solutions Inc, which has finalised preparing the technical specifications for the lines tender, where the bid requirements will be offered within weeks. The second tranche is a 450 km aero line linking between Badr Station and Nabaq station, in addition to an 850 km line between Nabaq and East Madinah station on the Saudi side. The source pointed out that technical and financial envelopes for the cables tender have been opened and that the analysis of offers presented from the Italian Prysmian and the Norwegian Nexans are ongoing. He highlighted the Italian offer, saying that the company provided less-expensive solutions. The third tranche of the project is linking Badr and Nabaq stations via ground cables, along with a 500 KV marine cable across the Gulf of Aqaba, at a distance of 16 km. The pilot phase of the project is planned to begin in mid-2017 with 3,000 MW during off-peak hours. The project is estimated to cost $1.6bn. Egypt is set to pay $600m. The funding contributors list includes the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, as well as the EETC.
