Ministry of Energy, Iraqi Ministry of Electricity Co-sign MoU

The Ministry of Energy and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity co-signed a memorandum of understanding, framing cooperation, in the field of electrical interconnection between the two countries’ networks.

The memorandum was signed by Prince-minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, and the Iraqi Minister of Electricity Eng Adel Karim.

The ceremony was took place via visual communication.

Commenting on the occasion, Prince-minister Energy said: The signing of this memorandum comes in implementation of the directives of the leaderships of the two countries directives, to spare no efforts, in order to strengthen the foundations of the strategic partnership between the two countries, in all fields.

Such a project comes within the framework of the Kingdom’s vision 2030, and its executive programs, focusing on investing the strategic location of the Kingdom and the nature of the Saudi electrical network, which is the largest in the Middle East and the Arab world, to make the Kingdom a regional center for connecting electrical power networks, the Prince-minister explained.

He pointed out that the memorandum and this project came as a result of a comprehensive and detailed study carried out by the concerned authorities, in the two countries, concluding that there are promising opportunities, in the Saudi-Iraqi electrical interconnection project to support the reliability of the power networks, in the two countries, achieve economic savings, and promote the optimum mix of energy for electricity production.

Supporting the absorption of electrical networks to enter renewable energy, and achieving optimal investments, in electricity generation projects, are the goals, too, he added.

in addition to the fruits that the two countries will reap from this project, he indicated, stating the electrical interconnection works between the Kingdom and Iraq will constitute a step to enhance the opportunity to establish a regional market for electricity trade and support the two countries’ participation in it.

The memorandum of understanding aims to participate in the reserve of electricity generation capacity and exchange electric power between the two countries, for use during times of emergency and malfunctions in the network of either country, thus reducing the periods of power outages, and exploiting opportunities for commercial exchange of electric energy, in order to achieve the optimal economic operation of the generation plants for both countries.

And to enhance the reliability of the stability of the two networks, and the possibility of importing and exporting electrical energy between the two sides and other Arab countries.