‘Joint power grid to open new vistas for Arab co-op’
Kuwait calls for technology transfer
The 12th session of the Arab Ministerial Electricity Council in progress. CAIRO, April 6, (KUNA): Arab power ministers on Thursday urged for bolstering cooperation among regional states in the energy, water and food sectors.
The Arab Ministerial Electricity Council, in a statement at conclusion of its 12th session, urged relevant authorities in the Arab states to examine a draft strategy on renewable energy in these countries and report back in two months, pending final review at the executive bureau.
The council lauded cooperation with the International Organization of Renewable Energy and tentatively agreed on holding the second ministerial meeting in 2018.
Earlier today, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water Issam Abdulmohsen Al-Marzouq, who chaired the session, affirmed on its sidelines significance of the joint Arab project, the power grid.
The joint Arab grid will “open new horizons for boosting greater inter-Arab economic cooperation and boosting the economies at the national levels,” he said in a statement to KUNA The common project had been launched in line with instructions by the top leaders during the 2009 Kuwait-hosted summit.
In his address to the session, Minister Al-Marzouq emphasized significance of technology transfer for development in Arab nations.
Technology
Masterminding modern technology can be through cooperation with regional and international organizations and executing national overhaul schemes, said the minister in a statement as he chaired the 12th session of the Arab Ministerial Electricity Council.
He called for dedicating attention to rationalizing power consumption and raising efficiency of the power installations, as part of the approach to upgrade the power sector in the Arab world.
Minister Al-Marzouq indicated that the Arab strategy for developing renewable energy (2010-2030) that had been adopted by the Arab leaders would be among the main topics of the session deliberations.
A great deal of accomplishments have been made in the Arab electricity grid venture, he said, however the Kuwaiti official stopped short of elaborating.
In 2016, Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed on linking their electricity grid during 2017.
The two countries had accomplished 14,000 megawatts in the electricity interconnection project, which primarily aims to boost the electricity-generating capacity of both countries.
The Arab power grid is projected to cost $1.5 billion and aims to exchange 3,000 megawatt through direct electrical lines. It includes construction of a 1,370 kms link between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The link will include a 25 kms subsea cable, which will cross the Gulf of Aqaba.
Also within framework of the session, 14 Arab countries signed a MoU for establishing an Arab common market for electricity. The MoU was approved by the Council of the Arab League (Foreign Ministers) last September.
The document was signed by the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, the Comoros, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Yemen and Kuwait, on the sidelines of the session.