Syria, Jordan Link Power Grids

DAMASCUS, March 14, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) — Syria and Jordan on Wednesday linked their power grids, a further step in the establishment of a regional power network.

The linking ceremony, held at Dair Ali power station south of Syria's capital of Damascus, was attended by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Jordanian King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Iraqi and Turkish officials.

The Dair Ali-based linking station secured the connection of the Syrian-Jordanian power grid with that between Egypt and Jordan, part of the regional power grid planned to link Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.

Egypt and Jordan launched the linkage project in 1999 through a 360-kilometer-long cable under the Gulf of Aqaba.

The Syrian-Jordanian power grid cost some 145 million U.S. dollars, with Syria funding 115 million dollars.