RIYADH: Saudi Electricity Co. has extended the tender closing date for the contract to build an electricity interconnection network between Saudi Arabia and Jordan by two months to the end of July, MEED reported. At least three teams are understood to have been qualified to bid for the contract, it added. Saudi Electricity Co. issued the request for proposals for the contract in February with March 1 as the initial submission date, which was later extended to May end and now to end July. The proposed power link is projected to exchange an estimated 500 MW of electricity between the two countries daily, which is expected to increase to 1,000 MW subsequently. The project includes the construction of a high-voltage direct current converter station, a 400-kilovolt gas-insulated switchgear substation, and a 400-kilovolt overhead transmission line. The project comes as a result of a memorandum of understanding signed between the energy ministers of both countries in August 2020 to boost electricity cooperation between the nations. SEC and Jordan’s National Electric Power Co. will prepare and implement the detailed project agreements within the MoU framework, MEED said. Saudi Energy Minister Abdul Aziz bin Salman had said that the project would “enhance the regional market for electricity trade”. Saudi Arabia has already participated in a similar project, with Iraq and GCC Interconnection link. In December, the Kingdom awarded contracts worth $1.8 billion to build an HVDC network that will enable the daily exchange of up to 3,000MW of electricity between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.