KUNA reported that Arabian Gulf states successfully completed an operation to link the electricity grid systems of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the project will link the electricity systems of all 6 GCC member states. This will result in a secure and stable unified grid that reduces the need for electric power reserves and allows for commercial exchanges of energy in accordance with agreements signed by the member states.

The Phase I involving 4 GCC member states consisted of laying a sea cable to link Bahrain's electricity grid to the main grid of the Electricity Authority in Saudi Arabia. These systems were later linked to the grids in Qatar and Kuwait. Just a day after the construction of the physical infrastructure for the linkage was completed, the Bahraini, Qatari and Kuwaiti power grids began operating in tandem.

The Phase III Gulf electricity linkage project is expected to be completed in 2011. It will enable the linked states to contribute to a joint electricity reserve system, which will ultimately reduce reserve generation capacity to half of the total reserves now required.

When the project becomes fully operational, there will be no need to build additional electricity generation plants in the Gulf. The unified system will have the capacity to produce more than 5,000 MW and will provide strategic support in the event that any state in the project experiences an electricity outage for any reason. The Gulf States are currently accepting bids for the construction of the large power plants involved in the project, the most noteworthy of which are the Al Sabiya Plant in Kuwait and the Petro Rabigh project in Saudi Arabia.

In the Phase I of the project, Qatar and Kuwait started with a capacity reaching up to 400 kilovolts. Later, the project connected the Al Fadili Plant in Saudi Arabia to the Al Zour plant in Kuwait via 2 overhead lines. The 2 plants were then connected with the Salwa plant in Qatar using 2 similar lines.

(Sourced from Kuwait News Agency)