Saudi Arabia, Iraq agree to link electricity grids

Dubai: Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to link their power grids, Saudi state press agency SPA announced.

The MoU was signed by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy, and Iraq’s Minister of Electricity Adel Karim during a virtual ceremony.

"The Kingdom aims to achieve optimal investment in the electrical connection with Iraq,” Prince Abdulaziz said during the ceremony.

The electricity linkage deal aims to strengthen ties between the two countries, as well as to establish a regional market for electricity trade. Saudi Arabia also aims to become a regional hub for electricity linkage systems in the Arab world, the prince added.

Iraqi Minister Adel Karim said the linkage would be completed within two years, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency, though no details of how the grids will be connected nor how much electricity will flow into Iraq were released.