India and Saudi Arabia have completed a feasibility study for a 2,100-km undersea link estimated at around US$9bn, carrying 3 GW through high-voltage direct current.
The Joint Working Group on Energy is due to discuss it on 5 October. The estimate has risen from roughly $5bn when the project was first proposed, an increase of about 80 per cent.
The numbers frame the transmission economics. At US$9bn for 3 GW, the link implies about US$3bn of capex per gigawatt of transfer capacity.
The project rests on a 2024 agreement between CTUIL and Saudi Arabia's national transmission company to study feasibility and fits India's One Sun One World One Grid vision.
It would allow power to flow in both directions and help balance supply when renewable output varies through the day.
This is among the first cross-border power projects involving India to advance to this stage. It would extend India–Gulf energy ties beyond hydrocarbons, a relationship currently exposed to disruption at Hormuz.
The project is still at the planning stage, and cost, business model and implementation will depend on further talks. Reports say the 5 October meeting will explore ways to reduce costs.
India and Saudi Arabia have completed a feasibility study for a 2,100-km undersea link estimated at around US$9bn, carrying 3 GW through high-voltage direct current.
The Joint Working Group on Energy is due to discuss it on 5 October. The estimate has risen from roughly US$5bn when the project was first proposed, an increase of about 80 per cent.
The numbers frame the transmission economics. At US$9bn for 3 GW, the link implies about US$3bn of capex per gigawatt of transfer capacity.
The project rests on a 2024 agreement between CTUIL and Saudi Arabia's national transmission company to study feasibility and fits India's One Sun One World One Grid vision. It would allow power to flow in both directions and help balance supply when renewable output varies through the day.
This is among the first cross-border power projects involving India to reach this stage. It would extend India–Gulf energy ties beyond hydrocarbons, a relationship currently vulnerable to disruption at Hormuz.
The project is still in the planning stage, and cost, business model and implementation will depend on further talks. Reports say the 5 October meeting will explore ways to reduce costs.
