Top firms eye $1.6bn Saudi-Egypt power project

Global technology giants including Alstom, ABB and Siemens are in the race for a $1.6-billion electricity interconnection project being jointly developed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, said a report. The two neighbouring countries are set to finalise tenders for transformers and lines for the mega project next month and award the contract in September, reported Daily News Egypt. The winning company will build a 450-km-long transmission line, starting at the Badr City power station and stretching to the Nabq City switch station, in addition to a 850-km-long transmission line stretching from the switch station east of the Madinah power station, passing through the Tabuk station, and ending at Badr. The company winning this contract will establish two 500 kV AC/DC transformer stations in Badr City and another linking station to connect to the line in Nabq, it stated. Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) chairman Gamal Abdel Rahim said the tender bids for the Madinah-Tabuk-Badr transformer stations will be opened by the Saudi side on May 3; while the tender for the Badr-Nabq line will be opened in Egypt on May 7. The pilot phase of the project will begin in 2019 to exchange 3,000 MW at peak hours, he added.