Eastern Province Governor launches Gulf Electricity Market platform to sell $300 mln power p.a. to Iraq

Inauguration ceremony of Gulf Electricity Market Project platform

Saudi Arabia’s Governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Saud bin Nayef, inaugurated the platform for the project to link the Gulf electricity market with Iraq at the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) headquarters in Dammam.

In a statement, the governor said that the project aims to protect energy security and boost integration among the GCC countries.

Ahmed Al-Ebrahim, CEO of GCCIA, said the platform enables Iraq to exchange and trade electricity with the GCC countries collectively or individually, which will provide flexibility to the exchange and trade of energy between both parties.

He added the platform also allows reserving the necessary transmission lines for electricity transfer among GCC countries.

Al-Ebrahim expects that the project would provide Iraq with two terawatts (TW) during the summer, and 0.5 TW in the winter.

The value of the electrical energy Iraq will use through the interconnection project is expected to range between $200 and $300 million annually.