EGYPT: Covid-19 slows down electricity interconnection with Saudi Arabia
The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has recently postponed the reception of bids for the construction of the interconnection power line between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. All contracts were initially expected to be signed before the end of May 2020. The postponement could last up to 60 days.
The project to build the power interconnection line between Egypt and Saudi Arabia will start with a slight delay due to the Covid-19. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has recently extended the call for tenders, issued at the end of February 2020 for seven companies. They are Larsen & Toubro, Hyundai, State Grid, NCC, KEC International, Kalpataru and El-Sewedy. “The tenders will be the subject of a separate agreement and all contracts will be signed before the end of May 2020,” said Sabah Mashaly, EETC president at the time. The extension of the tender will extend beyond this period. It could last between 40 and 60 days.
The project to build the interconnection power line will allow Egypt and Saudi Arabia to exchange 3 GW of electricity per day at peak times. It includes the extension of a 20 km submarine cable, with a capacity of up to 3000 MW, over the Gulf of Aqaba. The project will cost $1.6 billion (more than 25 billion Egyptian pounds). Egypt is expected to finance about 40% of the project, while Saudi Arabia is expected to pay 60%.
The interconnection project was first negotiated in 2010, but has been delayed several times due to political events. In 2014, Egypt and Saudi Arabia resumed negotiations and tendered for cables, lines and transformer stations.
The link with renewable energies
The partnership between Egypt and Saudi Arabia is not a coincidence, as Egypt has great potential for renewable energy production. The country’s production very often exceeds the needs of the population. Thanks to this collaboration, Saudi Arabia will benefit from the energy potential of the Kingdom of Egypt. According to the Egypt Power Report 2020, power generation plans show that the country could end up with a huge surplus of 74.4 GW by 2035. According to the same report, an assessment of the Egyptian government’s targets suggests that installed capacity could reach 160 GW by the middle of the next decade, with peak demand projected at 85.6 GW.
Inès Magoum