Electricity trade in the Middle East will grow slowly
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Significance
Cross-border electricity trade in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has historically been very limited, and mostly confined to quantity-based balancing and small amounts of cash-based trade. The apparently extensive network of regional connections is in practice not very effective because of limited capacity, missing links and political or security issues in some sections.
Impacts
- The use of political leverage could increase as interconnectivity grows.
- More electricity will be traded on a cash basis rather than on a balancing system.
- A cross-border dispute system for electricity trades in MENA will evolve slowly.