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India in talks to link grid with Saudi Arabia and UAE

25 April 2023

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India is considering linking its electricity grid by undersea cables to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Singapore, according to the country’s Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh.

India’s Power Ministry has circulated cabinet notes for inter-ministerial consultation to initiate the process to expand access to reliable power and enhance the country’s energy security, a local media report cites.

This follows an announcement made in January by Singh that India and the UAE are close to signing a major agreement on a renewable energy interconnection between the two countries.

The minister told news agency Reuters at the time that the agreement was awaiting final approvals. 

The interconnection agreement was to fall within the auspices of the One Sun, One World, One Grid (Osowog) initiative by a group of countries led by India to create global renewable energy networks. 

MEED COMMENT: Region expands its power play

The GCC states’ regional electricity grid is in the process of being upgraded and expanded to cater to its members as well as to other jurisdictions.

In March, the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) awarded Japan’s Hitachi Energy a contract to upgrade the Al-Fadhili high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station in Saudi Arabia.

Once upgraded, the Al-Fadhili station will be able to exchange up to 1,800MW of electricity between the six states.

GCCIA also confirmed in February the award of five contracts worth $220m for the construction of infrastructure linking the region’s electricity grid with Iraq’s.

The project involves the construction of a double circuit 400-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Wafra station in Kuwait to the Al-Faw station in south Iraq with a total transmission capacity of 1,800MW and a length of 295 kilometres.

In December 2021, Saudi Arabia and Egypt awarded $1.8bn-worth of contracts to build a high-voltage direct current network to enable the daily exchange of up to 3,000MW of electricity between the two countries.

Photo: New Delhi (Pixabay)

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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