Standard Chartered Bank with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has provided a US$566m Islamic financing facility for Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to enable a Saudi-Egypt electricity interconnection project.
The US$1.8bn project, developed by SEC and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Corporation (EETC), would consist of a 1,300 km long power interconnection between Cairo (Egypt), Tabuk (Saudi Arabia) and Madinah (Saudi Arabia). The high voltage direct current (HVDC) line is expected to enable the exchange of up to 3 GW of electricity at peak times. It should be commissioned by 2026.
The 14-year financing will be guaranteed by the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) and funded by the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK). The facility is structured on the Islamic concept of Commodity Murabaha.
In May 2022, SNC-Lavalin won a four-year contract to manage and supervise the design and execution of the project. Prysmian Group secured a €221m (US$240m) contract in October 2021 for a ±500 kV HVDC submarine and land cable system that would connect the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the African continent.