The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday approved a funding plan for the much-talked-about GCC power grid project, which it is estimated will cost $6 billion.
"GCC electricity ministers approved the special mechanism for funding the project," Kuwaiti Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah said, adding that the project would be implemented "very soon."
The first phase, which involves linking the grids of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, will cost $2.25 billion and is in the pre-qualification stage, Sheikh Ahmad told reporters after a meeting of GCC ministers in Kuwait City. Saudi Arabia will contribute about 40 percent of the first-phase cost, Kuwait 36.5 percent, Qatar 13.5 percent and Bahrain about 10 percent, Sheikh Ahmad said. The Dammam-based Gulf Electricity Link Authority (GELA) will oversee implementation, according to a press statement published today. The second phase involves linking the grids of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The resulting two mega-grids will be joined in the final phase.
