Saudi Arabia will be relaunching the tender for establishing lines and transformers of the electrical interconnection project with Egypt with new technical specifications in June after finishing the adjustment made to the electrical interconnection paths between the two countries. Informed sources told Daily News Egypt that after the implementation of Neom project, the paths of electrical interconnection were altered, which required relaunching the tender with new specifications for the companies that have previously applied to implement the project. The sources added that Egypt has settled the tender for the project's part on its land, and it is awaiting to decide the locations of the new paths on the Egyptian territories to begin the project in coordination with Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the sources also revealed that there is an agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in order to settle all the issues of the project between both countries before the end of December, given that the first quarter of 2020 will see the implementation of the project's first phase. Noteworthy, the project connects two electrical networks in Egypt and Saudi Arabia on a direct current of 500 kv capacity from Badr station to East Medina station, passing through Tabuk station in Saudi Arabia over a distance of 1,300 km, including 820 km in Saudi Arabia and 480 km in Egypt. The total cost of the project was $1.6bn, however, after adjusting the interconnection paths and changing the prices, the total cost of the project would reach $2.5bn, an increase of $900m, according to the sources. Egypt started negotiations with Saudi Arabia in 2010 to exchange energy between the two countries, however, the political events that took place in Egypt postponed the project more than once, until the negotiations resumed recently with the support of the political leadership in both countries. In October 2018, Saudi Arabia announced a plan to establish Neom project, which runs through three countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, with investments of nearly $500bn. It is located in north west Saudi Arabia on an area of 26,500 sqkm. It overlooks the Red Sea and the Aqaba Gulf from the north and west, and the project will be focusing on nine investment sectors. The first phase is planned to be finished by 2025.
