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Egypt, Saudi Arabia to decide on electricity interconnection tenders next month Relations between the two countries were not affected, says Abdel Rahim
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are set to finalise tenders for transformers and lines for the interconnection electricity project between the two countries next month. Chairperson of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) Gamal Abdel Rahim told Daily News Egypt that the government is currently coordinating with Saudi officials to complete the opening of the technical envelopes next month. The contract will be signed and the winning companies will be awarded the projects' implementation in September. He added that the tender bids for the Medina-Tabuk-Badr transformer stations will be opened by the Saudi side on 3 May; while the tender for the Badr-Nabq line will be opened in Egypt on 7 May. He stressed that there is no delay in the project and that the ties between the two countries were not affected. Saudi Arabia's relations with Egypt have witnessed some improvement recently. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday and met with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to discuss means of enhancing relations between the two countries. The joint Egyptian-Saudi Committee will meet in May. The winning company will build an antenna line at a length of 450 kilometres, starting at the Badr City power station and stretching to the Nabq City switch station, in addition to an antenna line with a length of 850 kilometres from the switch station east of the Medina power station, passing through the Tabuk station, and ending at Badr. Alstom, ABB, and Siemens have all applied for the tender and their offers will be analysed in coordination with the Saudi side. The company winning this contract will establish two 500kV AC/DC transformer stations in Badr City and another linking station to connect to the line in Nabq. Abdel Rahim said that the pilot phase of the project will begin in 2019 to exchange 3,000MW at peak hours. The project costs about $1.6bn, with the Egyptian side's share amounting to $600m. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Islamic Development Bank, and the resources of the EETC will contribute to the project's funding, along with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
