RIYADH: India is planning to link its power grid with Saudi Arabia and the UAE through undersea cables, Indian media reported, citing Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh. The report said that Singh’s ministry has already circulated Cabinet notes for inter-ministerial consultation to expand access to reliable power and enhance the country’s energy security. According to the report, India will sign bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, once the Cabinet approves the decision. “The India-UAE agreement is in its final stages,” said the minister. Earlier in January, India and the UAE announced plans to conduct a feasibility study for linking their power grids via undersea cables as part of the One Sun, One World, One Grid initiative. Singh was quoted as saying that an interconnection power grid with Saudi Arabia is currently under review. In March, the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority awarded Japan’s Hitachi Energy a contract to upgrade the Al-Fadhili high-voltage direct current converter station in Saudi Arabia. After the upgrade, the power station is expected to exchange up to 1,800 MW between the six Gulf states. GCCIA also awarded five contracts worth $220 million for the construction of infrastructure linking the region’s electricity grid with Iraq. The Saudi Electricity Co. is also considering the development and construction of a power transmission link between the Kingdom and Iraq. Middle East Economic Digest reported that the SEC has undertaken preliminary studies to carry out the project. The project is expected to extend between Arar in northern Saudi Arabia and Yousifiyah, a township in Iraq’s Baghdad governorate. The MEED report further added that tendering process for the project’s consultancy package is underway. In January, Majeed Al-Moneef, chairman of the Saudi Association of Energy Economics, during an interview with Arab News said that international and regional cooperation is crucial to meeting the growing power demand. Al-Moneef pointed out that creating a common grid will solve the issue of power shortage. He added that a common energy market, supported by a proper regulatory framework, will soon become a reality in the Middle East.