203. Another focal point consists in grid infrastructure: both grid access for private developers and interconnections between MENA countries are key to defining the potential for significant market growth in the medium-to-long term.
204. The regional grid infrastructure is largely owned by public utilities, which facilitates potential interconnections. A number of ongoing actions are dedicated to extending internal grid capacity as well as interconnections, both within the region and between the region and Southern European countries (through Spain and Italy)46.
• Designing a long-term grid infrastructure development strategy, focusing on grid access and enhanced grid capacity. This involves electricity network planning and deployment, requiring government efforts to map domestic energy resources and co-ordinate deployment of the electricity grid with that of renewable energy generation - encompassing differences in size and scale of RE generation projects. This also requires capacity of the grid to balance the intermittent generation for certain renewable energy sources (e.g. wind, solar, etc.).
• Dedicating adequate financial resources to scaling up MENA-wide grid infrastructure. This will require considerable physical investments in the near future, but is necessary to provide a reliable supply of power and integrate an increasing share of power from renewables.
Table 5. Grid ownership and interconnections in selected MENA countries
| Country | Transmission Operator | Interconnections with |
| Algeria | SONELGAZ | • Tunisia (300 MW capacity, new line in 2012 complements 4 lines and doubles capacity) • Morocco (800 MW capacity) • Spain and Italy (feasibility study stage) |
| Egypt | Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) | • Jordan (550 MW capacity, plan to double) • Palestine (17 MW, planned 15-200 MW) • Saudi Arabia (3000 MW HVDC link planned) |
| Jordan | National Electricity Power Company (NEPCO) | • Syria • Palestinian Authority |
| Lebanon | Électricité du Liban (EDL) | • Syria |
| Libya | General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) | |
| Morocco | Office National d'Électricité (ONE) | • Spain (1400 MW capacity, plan to add third AC cable undersea in 2020) • Tunisia (via Algeria) • Algeria (800 MW capacity) |
| Tunisia | Société Tunisienne d'Électricité et du Gaz (STEG) | • Morocco • Algeria (300 MW) • Libya (disconnected) • Italy: plan for 1000 MW of HVDC, linked to decision on 1200 MW plant in Tunisia |
Source: REN21 Secretariat (2013), MENA Renewables Status Report, Abu Dhabi International Renewable Energy Conference (ADIREC), Paris.
____________________________________________________________________
46. Recent initiatives include the multi-billion dollar Gulf Cooperation Council power grid project, which created an integrated electricity network between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE. The Seven Countries Interconnection Project (SCIP), launched in the early 1990s, aims to interconnect the grids of Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon.