EXCLUSIVE- Egypt and Sudan will sign contracts to connect their electricity grid in two weeks’ time. The next milestone on our march toward becoming a regional energy hub will see Egypt and Sudan sign in two weeks’ time contracts to connect their electricity grids, Electricity Holding Company head Gaber El Desouky tells Enterprise. The holding company has no plans to seek external financing for the USD 60-70 mn project, El Desouky added. The project looks to be on the fast track: Desouky said to expect development work to begin within three months of a tender. As many as eight local and global players have been invited to participate in the prospective tender, among them ABB, General Electric, Elsewedy, Schneider, Siemens, and State Grid Corporation of China. Earlier reports in the domestic press had suggested the Sudan interconnection project would cost as much as USD 500 mn and that the state was seeking international financing to push it along.

El Desouky also confirmed that contracts to connect Egypt’s grid to Saudi Arabia’s will be signed at the end of June. These agreements, which come as part of the state’s drive to position Egypt as a regional energy hub, come with a view to ultimately allowing the increasingly deregulated industry to buy and sell power regionally. Talks with Cyprus and Greece on a USD 4 bn interconnection project will kick start within the coming month when a Cypriot delegation visits.