Tenders will be issued this year for the $1 billion Riyadh-based Electric Linkage Authority that will handle the Gulf Electric Grid project.

A company will be chosen before the end of Phase One of the project, said Humaid bin Nasir Al Owais, UAE Minister of Electricity and Water. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait will be electrically linked under the first phase. The second phase will link Oman and the UAE while the third will link UAE with the rest of the Gulf.

The UAE-Oman technical committee - currently working on electric linkage for both countries - is expected to meet soon.