Jordan Times
Sunday, April 11, 2004
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — Arab officials started talks in Cairo on Saturday on linking Iraq with the Jordanian-Egyptian power interconnectivity project and consequently enable both countries to meet part of Iraq's need for electricity.“Jordanian, Iraqi and Egyptian officials are studying the feasibility of linking Iraq to the project,” National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) Director General Ahmad Hiyasat told The Jordan Times from Cairo.
The official said Jordan and Egypt can initially supply Iraq with few hundreds of megawatts of electricity daily but in the future the capacity will increase in line with the growing need of the war-stricken country.
“Any supply of electricity will serve the western cities of Iraq” where electricity networks have been badly damaged after the US-UK invasion of the oil-rich country, said Hiyasat.
According to an informed source quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Saturday, the officials, meeting in Cairo, will also discuss over two days the future steps for linking more Arab and European countries to the project that was launched in 1998.
“The recommendations of the officials will be forwarded to the electricity ministers in Jordan, Egypt and Iraq for follow-up,” said the source.
Several countries, including Syria and Lebanon, are scheduled to be linked to the interconnectivity project next year before it goes to Turkey. Libya and Tunisia are also slated to be linked to the venture before it extends to Morooco, Spain and other European countries.
Power interconnection would allow for cost reduction and higher efficiency in performance, as it turns into what is known as economies of scale.
In addition to supplying Iraq with part of its need of electricity, Jordan is helping its eastern neighbour in receiving offers from international companies to reconstruct the Iraqi power network.
“This is conducted through an ad hoc office in Amman handled by Iraqi officials,” said Hiyasat.