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Authority awards GCC-Iraq power link

19 January 2023

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) has awarded the contract to link the regional electricity grid to south Iraq, according to its CEO Ahmed Ali al-Ebrahim.

According to industry sources, the contract has been awarded to a team of Saudi Arabia's Al-Sharif & KEC and France's Cegelec.

MEED reported in January 2021 that the GCCIA had allocated the financing required for the 300-kilometre (km) power transmission line linking the Al-Zour substation in Kuwait to the Iraqi border.

In January 2020, Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding to import 500MW of electricity from the GCCIA.

It was reported at the time that the GCCIA will fund the cost of building the two 400kV lines that will extend 300km between Kuwait and Iraq.

Iraq reconstruction

In July 2020, the US State Department issued a statement saying the GCC, Iraq and the US have "renewed their full support for the GCCIA project to connect the electricity grids of Iraq and the GCC".

“The United States is committed to facilitating this project and providing support where needed,” it said, adding that the project will provide much-needed electricity to Iraq and support the country's economic development, particularly in the southern provinces.

In the statement, the State Department also called for the “speedy and full” implementation of the pledges made in 2018 by the international community at the Kuwait International Conference for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Iraq has reached a similar interconnection agreement with Jordan. The project’s initial phase covers installing a high-voltage line between Al-Qaim in Iraq’s western region and Jordan’s eastern region of Al-Risha, at a cost of $140m.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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