AfrElec: Saudi Electricity borrows $568mn to fund electricity interconnection project with Egypt

State-owned Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has secured a financing facility worth $568mn to fund the Saudi-Egypt electricity interconnection project, the company said in a statement posted on the stock exchange. The facility has a term of 14 years.

In October 2012, both Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a $1.8bn to establish an electrical interconnection to exchange 3.0 GW of power to help set up an infrastructure for electricity trade between Arab countries.      

The interconnection project will support grid resilience and decarbonisation objectives as a large part of the exchanged power in the future will be from renewable sources.

Some 1.5 GW of the project is due to start operations in late 2024, while the remaining 1.5 GW will come out in mid-2025. 

SEC is 74.3%-owned by the government. Saudi Aramco owns 6.9%. The company produces electricity through 45 power plants and owns transmission and distribution networks throughout Saudi Arabia.