Grid code for the Pan-Arab electricity market

Development of the interconnection grid code for the Pan-Arab electricity market.

CESI has been supporting countries across the Arab world in co-ordination with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) in defining a harmonised Pan-Arab Interconnection Grid Code.

The Pan-Arab Interconnection Grid Code is one of the major milestones in the implementation of a regional electricity market among Arab countries, the Pan-Arab Electricity Market (PAEM).

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by 16 countries in 2019, the next step in implementing the PAEM is to create a common grid code to allow co-ordinated planning of generation and transmission capacities, as well as co-ordinated operation of each national power system within the Pan-Arab region.

CESI has been supporting AFESD and the member states in the following activities:

• Collection and analysis of information to deepen the understanding of the Pan-Arab region’s power sector and international best practices
• A gap analysis to identify how member states must harmonise their rules in order to develop the grid code
• Development of the codes that constitute the Interconnection Grid Code, addressing the technical requirements, procedures and methodologies that define the co-ordination between TSOs. The codes required for a proper implementation of the regional market are:
• Planning Code
• Connections Code
• Operations Code
• Scheduling and Dispatching Code
• Data Exchange Code
• Metering Code