Gulf Arab ministers have agreed to set up an independent body to implement a power grid project linking the six states of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The new body, to be called the Gulf Electricity Link Authority, will be based in Damman, Saudi Arabia. The cost of the interconnection had been put at around $2.8 billion. However a revised estimate for the first phase, which will link Saudi Arabia,, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain puts the cost at $1.1 billion instead of $1.9 billion leading to hopes that the total cost will be revised down.
