RIYADH, July 6, (KUNA): The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states participating in the joint power grid have benefitted much and on a daily basis from the advantages provided with the first day the network coming into operation, a recent GCC report said here Tuesday.
The report added that this joint power grid considerably contributed to the stability of the single networks of the participant GCC states.
The number of cases during which GCC states made use of the network reached more than 150 with the percentage of energy lost in some cases going up to more than 20, but being compensated thanks to the joint grid in what spared the participant states the option of power cuts to ease overloads during emergencies, it said. The GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) finalized and put into operation the first phase of the joint power grid that includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait by July 2009 and the network is currently interconnected through an electric interconnection line extending from Al-Zor station in Kuwait to Al-Doha southern station in Qatar, the report pointed out.
It also pointed to the role of the GCCIA, as it enables interconnected states to exchange and trade energy through the electric interconnection line by which a given state is supplied with power in the event of any emergency on power generation shortcoming, while the giver state of energy is being compensated in kind in such cases through receiving back the same amount of energy from the consuming country in the same period.
Further, the report made clear that any state could buy energy from another state in the joint network following reaching an agreement upon price between them and reserving the required capacity to be transported through the electric interconnection line, while the GCCIA helped the interconnected states sign bilateral agreements to exchange power between them when necessary.
It also mentioned that the amount of energy traded in this context depends on the status and preparedness of the network in both transmitting and receiving states, and consequently the GCCIA is always keen on keeping the networks of the interconnected states balanced and stable through continuing contacts among the control centers of member states and the mastermind of the GCCIA.
The second phase of the project ended by 2006 through upgrading the national networks of both United Arab Emirates and Oman and the third phase started in 2008 with the accession of UAE to the interconnection.
The GCCIA was founded in 2001 as part of the GCC joint economic agreement at a capital of $1.4 billion with the aim of interconnecting the national electricity networks of the member states.