Iraq participates in Arab Electricity Ministers' Meeting

The 12th session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Electricity will be held on Thursday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, with the participation of Iraq. The Council is scheduled to discuss several topics, including the developments of Arab electricity grid projects, the Arab joint market for electricity, as well as the topics of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The agenda of the meeting also includes discussing the activation of cooperation mechanisms with the World Bank to develop the executive plan for the establishment of the Arab Common Market for Electricity as well as the Arab Strategy for Sustainable Energy. The session will be chaired by Kuwait's Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water, Issam Abdul Mohsen Al-Marzouq.
Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and the head of the Arab Ministerial Council of Electricity for Iraq, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Mauritania, Qatar, Yemen, Oman and Palestine, said that achievements of the bank's initiative to establish a platform for the exchange of electricity between the Arab countries and the concept note prepared in this regard will be presented. The move came in the framework of continuous cooperation between the League of Arab States and the World Bank, especially in the field of energy.

The agenda also includes discussing the item for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and show what was done by the Council Secretariat and the Arab Atomic Energy of a great effort, preparation and coordination for holding conferences and training courses in this area, and in the framework of the Arab Strategy for the development of renewable energy uses updated (2010-2030), which It adopted in the Arab development Summit of economic and social, in Riyadh, in 2013.

Experts consider that the Arab Electricity Connection Project is a road map for the Arab Electricity Union, to adopt strategies that enable Arab electricity institutions to diversify and invest more in the available sources of energy, from oil and gas, to renewable energy sources, as well as distributing of electric power, to meet the economic and political challenges of the countries of linkage.

Electricity plays an important role in moving the economy, especially in the developing countries, including the Arab countries. Estimates indicate that demand for electricity in the Arab region will increase by 84% by 2020, which will require additional capacity building of 135,000 megawatts, with investments worth $ 450 billion.

The celebration will honor the chairman and members of the steering committee supervising the study of the comprehensive Arab electricity connection, follow-up of the executive plan and the study team, which prepared and reviewed the governance documents of the market over the past three years.