Saudi Arabia seeks closer India ties on power grid systems

Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in closer cooperation with India on extra-high-voltage electricity transmission, integrating renewable energy into power networks and meeting growing demand from data centres. The Economic Times reported the development, citing a power ministry statement on Monday, October 19.

The issues were discussed at a virtual meeting between India's power secretary, Pankaj Agarwal, and Saudi Arabia's assistant minister of energy for electricity affairs, Nasser Al-Qahtani. The officials reviewed progress on India–Saudi Arabia electrical interconnection initiatives, with both countries set to continue discussions on the proposed link.

Saudi Arabia sought greater technical cooperation as a rising share of renewable generation creates new requirements for grid management. The talks also addressed changes to grid codes—the technical and operating rules governing connections to electricity networks. Extra-high-voltage systems generally operate at 220 kilovolts and above, allowing large volumes of electricity to move over long distances with lower transmission losses. Cooperation in these areas is to be taken forward alongside discussions on the interconnection.