The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) has received AED 752 million from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) to assist link the UAE’s national grid to the larger GCC power network.
The cash will assist build a double-circuit transmission line that is 96 kilometres long and 400 kilovolts deep. It will connect the Al Silaa substation in the UAE to Salwa in Saudi Arabia. It also grants money to make substantial upgrades to the substations in Al Silaa, Salwa, and Gonan. These modifications will include new control systems, reactors, switchgears, and circuit breakers. The extension will increase the transmission system’s capacity from 2,400 MW to 3,500 MW.
Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, the Director-General of ADFD, said that the project was a “strategic enabler of energy security.” This is in line with the UAE’s plans to improve its energy infrastructure project. It makes the grid more reliable, helps people be ready for crises, and encourages everyone in the region to work together.
Ahmed Ali Al Ebrahim, the Chief Executive Officer of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCCIA), said that this is the first step in a bigger plan for the region that would eventually connect it to Kuwait, Oman, and southern Iraq. It is expected that the total cost of the project would be above a billion dollars. He believed that the project may bring more than $20 billion in business prospects to the Gulf region over the next fifteen years.
This directly helps the United Arab Emirates’ Energy Infrastructure project Strategy 2050 and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) bigger aims of making the region’s energy safer, more connected, and better for the environment. This should also help the regional grid become ready to handle renewable energy sources like wind and solar. This will assist with changes in demand and provide operators greater freedom.
A lot of research in economics and technology went into the project. Its goal is to help the area’s electrical sector by giving it long-term stability, cheaper prices, and sustainability.
