The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has decided to grant two loans of KWD35m (totalling US$114m) to support the Gulf Electricity Interconnection System Project, which will export electricity from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait and Iraq. KFAED’s financing constitutes around 40% of the total cost of the project.
The project involves constructing a 300 km, 400 kV double-circuit overhead transmission line connecting Saudi Arabia's Al-Fadhili converter station to Kuwait's Al-Wafrah station. It will also convert an existing double-circuit line between Al-Fadhili and the Al-Zour of Kuwait into a new 25 km 400 kV double-circuit line connecting Al-Fadhili and Al-Wafrah.
The line will also connect to the Al-Faw station in southern Iraq. The electrical networks in Al-Wafrah and Al-Faw will be upgraded to accommodate a transmission capacity of 3 GW and 500 MW, respectively.