GCCIA Transmission Line (MIGA-14783)

Regions
  • Middle East and North Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Iraq
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Al-Zubair and Al-Fao District in the Basrah Province
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 31, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 220.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Oct 16, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated on the project disclosure page, this summary covers an application by Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) of Saudi Arabia for their investments in the ultra-high voltage overhead line connecting the transmission grids of GCCIA and the Southern Transmission Company in Iraq. The preliminary guarantee amount is USD 220 million and may increase during the approval process of the guarantee, covering the risk of Breach of Contract for a guarantee period of up to 8 years.

The GCCIA signed a transmission development and use contract with the Iraqi Ministry of Energy and the General Electricity Transmission Company in the Southern Region in June 2022 to connect the transmission network of El Faw station in Southern Iraq to the interconnection infrastructure of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Project will enable Iraq to initially import 500 MW of energy from the Gulf countries to meet its internal shortage in energy supply.

The Project will benefit from the support of the Conflict Affected and Fragile Economies Facility (CAFEF), whose involvement is proposed via a shared first loss layer designed to enable greater private investment in underserved markets and helping MIGA expand its reach in FCS countries.

PROJECT DETAILS:

The Project covered by the proposed MIGA guarantee consists of a76.5 kilometer (km) long 400 kilovolt (kV) OHTL from the Al Faw substation close to Basra in southern Iraq to the Iraq-Kuwait border near Safwan in northern Kuwait as well as upgrades to the Al Faw substation. This is one section of a larger Interconnection Project which also includes a 211 km transmission line from the border to southern Kuwait (not covered by the proposed MIGA guarantee), where it links with the existing GCCIA network.

The OHTL route will affect communities in Al-Zubair and Al-Fao District in the Basrah Province, there are six communities located within 1 km from the OHTL. The Right-of-way (RoW) is 40 meters (m) to each side of the center of the OHTL.

GCCIA is headquartered in Saudi Arabia and is be responsible for the design, development, financing and construction of the Project. GCCIA is utilizing a multi-contract approach for the Project’s engineering and design, construction, and equipment procurement. The Project has been divided into three lots (construction of OHTL, upgrades to the substation, and protection & control systems for the substation), with Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors assigned to each lot. GCCIA has contracted an Owners Engineer (OE), which will, among others, review and supervise matters related to Environment and Social (E&S) risk management. Project construction activities commenced in April 2024 and is expected to be finalized in August 2026. The proposed MIGA guarantee will only cover the Project’s operations phase.

After completion of construction, the OHTL in Iraq will be transferred to the Southern Electricity Transmission Company (SETCO), a state-owned enterprise that operates the power transmission system in Southern Iraq. SETCO is also the implementing agency for a World Bank-funded project, including the construction and operation of a transmission line and substation in the Basra Province.

The 230 km transmission line of the Interconnection Project and related substation upgrades to be implemented in Kuwait is considered an Associated Facility to the Project as defined by Performance Standard 1. This section is also implemented by GCCIA, during both construction and operations.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the MIGA, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is an intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The GCCIA was established to interlink the power systems of the GCC countries, and the purpose of the proposed Project is to link the GCC countries with Iraq. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.miga.org/contact/access_to_information 

You can also request general information about MIGA and for information on guarantees by emailing: migainquiry@worldbank.org 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org 

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