Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker arrived yesterday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, heading a ministerial delegation, which is scheduled to participate in the meeting of the Egyptian-Saudi committee on electricity and energy subsidies.
The committee will discuss the cooperation between the two countries in the field of electricity linkage and improving energy efficiency.
The electricity linkage project, which will be discussed during the meeting, is expected to enable the exchange of about 3000 megawatts between the two networks, by taking advantage of the different consumption peak times in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have the two largest rlrctricity networks in the Arab world.
The linkage project, funded by several Arab and Islamic financial institutions, is worth US$1,6 billion, of which 610 million belong to Egypt. The trial operation of the project is expected in July 2017.
Shaker should return to Cairo on Sunday evening, while the rest of the delegation will remain in Riyadh for follow-up meetings throughout the week.
In related news, electricity loads on Saturday were reduced by 500 megawatts. The maximum load expected Sunday is 23,800 megawatts, as announced in the daily bulletin of the Electricity Ministry.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
