Six companies have won 13 GCC power grid contracts worth $1.079 billion to implement the first phase of the multibillion dollar project that would link the six GCC member states with an electricity network. The decision to award the contracts was taken by the board of directors of the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA), which met in Dammam yesterday. The first phase will link Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, the authority said. It includes establishment of an 800-km 400KV overhead line linking Kuwait's Al-Zour station with Doha and a 400KV submarine line connecting Saudi Arabia with Bahrain. Dr. Saleh Alawaji, chairman of GCCIA, and Saudi deputy minister for electricity affairs, said the project, which is to reduce the cost of power generation, would be carried out in three phases. The contracts for the first phase include sub stations, back-to-back HVDC converter station, overhead transmission lines, submarine cables, and a control center. The first phase will be completed by 2008. Saudi Arabia has offered to meet 40 percent of the cost of the first phase while Kuwait will provide 36.5 percent, Qatar 13.5 percent and Bahrain 10 percent. --MORE 1305 Local Time 1005 GMT
