Egypt hopes that it will be able to import electricity from Saudi Arabia through the first 1.5GW phase of an under-construction HVDC interconnection by June next year. Speaking to Saudi-headquartered Asharq Business this week, an Egyptian official says trials of the link are to begin in April. While the official says June represents a one-month acceleration, when Saudi Arabia and Egypt first inked the $1.8bn deal for the 500kV interconnection in October 2021 the target was for October 2024, reaching full 3GW capacity by end-2025 (MEES, 8 October 2021).
Egypt’s electricity balance has deteriorated significantly over the subsequent three years, as gas production has plummeted to seven-year lows this summer (MEES, 20 September), resulting in frequent blackouts (MEES, 13 September) and a politically-embarrassing dependence in Israeli gas (MEES, 11 October). Any additional demand on Saudi Arabia’s power sector from Egypt will necessitate increased oil burn for the kingdom, which continues to burn more than 1mn b/d in power plants despite increased gas and solar availability (MEES, 20 September). (CONTINUED - 163 WORDS)