Marrakesh, Morocco - The UAE and other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have entered into talks with Iraq to link up to its electric grid, a UAE official said on Tuesday.
“The GCC Interconnectivity Authority is examining with Iraqi authorities a grid link with the southern Iraqi province of Basra,” MatarAl Neyadi, undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry, told Reuters.
Iraq and its southern province of Basra have endured power cuts for years as public services deteriorate.
The GCC could export its electricity surplus, Al Neyadi said on the sidelines of a conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
The GCC produces 100 gigawatt annually, of which only 30 per cent is consumed in winter, he added.
The GCC is also considering an electric link with the Horn of Africa and the Indian peninsula, he added, without giving details.
