The Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia and Ministry of Electricity of the Republic of Iraq signed today a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to frame the electricity interconnection cooperation between the two countries. The MoU was signed by HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy, and H.E. Eng. Adel Karim, acting Minister of Electricity, in the presence of H.E. Ihsan Abduljabbar, Iraq’s Minister of Oil via videoconference, and with the participation and presence of H.E. Dr. Haimd Al-Ghazzi, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Council of Ministers and the National Coordinator of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council.
In a statement on the occasion, HRH Minister of Energy said that the signing of this MoU is an implementation of the directives of the leaderships of both countries, the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, and H.E. President Barham Salih, and Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kathami, to pursue whatever strengthens the bases of the strategic partnership and relations between the two countries in all areas.
This project is within the framework of Saudi Vision 2030 and its implementation programs, HRH added, which focus on leveraging the strategic location of the Kingdom and the nature of the Saudi power grid, the biggest in the MENA region, to become a regional hub for electricity interconnection.
Prince Abdulaziz also noted that this MoU and project were the result of a comprehensive, detailed study by the concerned authorities in both countries. The study concluded that there are promising opportunities in the Saudi-Iraqi electricity interconnection project to promote the reliability of the two countries’ power grids, achieve economic savings, help optimize the power mix, support the grids’ accommodation to renewables, and optimize investments in power generation projects.
In addition to the project’s benefits to both countries, HRH said, the Saudi-Iraqi electricity interconnection is a step towards establishing a regional power trade market and supporting the participation of both countries in that market.
The MoU aims for both countries to share their power generation spare capacities and to trade electrical energy, to be used during times of emergency and power grid malfunctions, thus, reducing power outages durations. It also aims at leveraging power exchange opportunities to optimize economic operation of generation plants in both countries, promoting the reliability and stability of both grids, and enabling the importation and exportation of electrical energy between the two sides and within the wider Arab world.
