"A dream comes true," will remain as the most befitting expression for such a huge and one of the unique projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and around the world. There is no doubt that the GCC Inter-connection Grid Project launched last night is a fulfillment of the great vision and a true reflection of in-depth inspiration of the GCC leaders for the comprehensive development of the region"s countries. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and the leaders of other five member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, currently holding the 30th GCC Summit in Kuwait city, launched last night the electricity Inter-connection Grid Project to be overseen by the Dammam-based Gulf Cooperation Council Inter-Connection Authority (GCCIA) which was established for this purpose by a royal decree dated 08/05/1422H (July 29, 2001). The overall project when finally finished include three phases: Phase I: Interconnection of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia (the main contributor), Bahrain and Qatar which is called the GCC North-Grid, is now fully operational. The system components include a double-circuit 400 kV, 50Hz line from Al Zour (Kuwait) to Ghunan (Saudi Arabia) with an intermediate connection at AlFadhili (Saudi Arabia) and associated substations, according to GCCIA website. Phase II, however, is an Interconnection of the Independent systems in the UAE as well as Oman. This is the GCC South-Grid, to be executed independently by another party. Phase III: Interconnection of the GCC South-Grid with the GCC-North Grid. This phase completes the interconnection of the Six Gulf States. It links the networks of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar (North-Grid) and the United Arab Emirates and Oman (South-Grid) expected to be completed in 2011. --SPA
