Mubasher: Hitachi ABB Power Grids has been awarded contracts worth several hundreds of millions of US dollars by the Saudi Electricity Company and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for the electricity interconnection project between the two countries.

The first large-scale HVDC interconnection in the MENA region will enable Saudi Arabia and Egypt to exchange up to 3,000 MW of electricity, much of which is forecast to be generated from renewable energy sources in the future, according to a statement on Tuesday. 

Hitachi will provide advanced technologies for HVDC power link between the countries, including the supply of three HVDC converter stations located at Medina and Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, and Badr in Egypt.

In cooperation with its two consortium partners, Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works in Saudi Arabia and Orascom Construction in Egypt, Hitachi ABB Power Grids will also provide system studies, design and engineering, transformers, valves, high-voltage equipment, technical advisory, commissioning and service,

In the longer term, the link will likely be part of a more broadly interconnected energy system with Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.