Egypt-Saudi Power Link Set for Full Operation by April 2026

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly set April 2026 as the deadline for the Egypt-Saudi electricity interconnection to be fully operational, following an inspection of testing and trial operations at the Badr converter station in Cairo. Project officials said key infrastructure has been completed, including the Badr converter station, the Taba 2 switching station, the approximately 320 km 500 kV Badr to Taba 2 overhead line, and all marine and land cable installations. The final connection and integration into the unified national grids of Egypt and Saudi Arabia is scheduled before the end of 2025. Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat said the project will create an electrical energy bridge enabling efficient and flexible power exchange between the two countries, making use of differing peak load times to optimise generation and reduce fuel consumption. The link connects the region’s two largest electricity grids and could serve as a nucleus for wider interconnections across Africa, Asia and Europe. The interconnection has a total transfer capacity of 3000 MW and comprises three high-voltage direct current converter stations: East Madinah and Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, and Badr in East Cairo. These sites are linked by approximately 1350 km of overhead lines and marine cables. The executing companies reported approximately 11.6 million working hours on the project to date. The station in Badr City is the first of its kind in the Middle East in terms of scale, technology and operational use for grid interconnectivity.