The Egyptian government is studying the possibility of exporting some of its electricity to Iraq. Such a project, if approved, would require the construction of new power lines to boost the Iraqi grid through Jordan. Egypt already exports some of its electricity to the Gulf country.
Thanks to its megaprojects, Egypt is 1 of the main renewable energy producing countries in the North Africa and Middle East region. The country of the Pharaohs owes this mainly to its huge wind and solar potential. But Cairo now wants to step up the export of its electricity in the sub-region, to make its infrastructures profitable. The Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mr Mohammed Shaker, has announced the government’s desire to establish an electricity connection with Iraq.
This Middle Eastern country does not share a border with Egypt. In fact, 1,427 km separate the 2 countries. But since the year 1999, Egypt has had an electricity connection with Jordan, with which it shares a fjord in the Gulf of Aqaba. As a neighbouring country of Iraq, Jordan is expected to transit the electricity to Baghdad. Egypt has already launched studies for such an electricity inter-connection project.
The Advantage of The Link With Jordan
In order to succeed, Egypt will 1st have to increase the capacity of the electricity line that links it to Jordan. With a power of 400 kV, this 13km long submarine cable crosses the Gulf of Aqaba, with an exchange capacity of 550 megawatt. The boost in the power of the line should make it possible to transfer part of the electricity from the Jordanian electricity network to that of its Iraqi neighbour.
If Egypt wants to become a leader in the sub-region’s electricity exchanges, it is because its installed capacity has increased significantly in recent years with the exploitation of its solar and wind potential. The North African country has an installed solar PV capacity of 1,700 MWp and 1,465 megawatt for wind power. But this capacity should increase further in the upcoming years thanks to ongoing projects in Upper Egypt for solar and in the Gulf of Suez for wind. In order to make its production profitable, part of the electricity will be exported to Jordan, Libya, Sudan, and soon Iraq. Cairo is even considering establishing electrical connections with Greece and Cyprus.