GCC pushes three parallel plays to connect its rail, water and power networks

The GCC advanced three parallel infrastructure integration plays in four days. On Sunday, GCC transport ministers in Bahrain signed the General Agreement for the GCC Railway Project, providing a legal framework for a 2.1k-km network connecting Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. Three days earlier, the bloc’s Electricity and Water Cooperation Committee reviewed proposals and ongoing technical studies for a regional water interconnection network, alongside proposed expansion of the existing power grid interconnections.

What we know: Both the water project and the new power grid expansion remain in the study phase, with no timelines or cost estimates publicly disclosed. Rail, meanwhile, is already under construction after members pushed domestic construction tenders and regulatory frameworks for the buildout over the last two years — the rail agreement simply defines the responsibilities of member states and deepens cooperation on the GCC Railways Authority.

Water security is what moved the agenda. Last April, the GCC Consultative Meeting in Jeddah — which ordered the water and grid connectivity feasibility studies now under review — convened amid heightened fears that Iran could sever the bloc’s main source of freshwater: Desalination infrastructure. The six Gulf states together produce roughly 40% of the world’s desalinated water, and Kuwait draws around 90% of its drinking water from desalination. Oman relies on desalination for 86% and Qatar for 61% for total water use. And severe disruption to Gulf desalination could deprive as many as 73 mn people of water access, according to estimates.

REMEMBER- Iran did attack desalination infrastructure, but the strikes were not as systematic as its own hits on energy infrastructure, falling short of disrupting water supply en masse. On 8 March, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said an Iranian drone attack had damaged a desalination plant. A few weeks later, an attack damaged a building at a combined power and desalination site in Kuwait.

The grid is the one that works

From concept to continuous operation: The GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA), established in 2001, links the six Gulf states. Phase I linking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar became operational in December 2009. Oman’s integration via the UAE completed the six-state loop in November 2014. GCCIA puts cumulative savings at about USD 3.6 bn since 2009, averaging USD 256 mn per year — a figure CEO Ahmed Al Ebrahim has said exceeds the project’s capital and operating costs to date. The grid has prevented more than 2.8k electrical outages and GCCIA projects potential savings of up to USD 24 bn by 2038 once a regional spot market for electricity trading is operational.

GCCIA is already executing an active pipeline of grid expansion projects. These include raising transmission capacity between the GCC grid and the UAE from 2.4 GW to 3.5 GW and building a direct 530-km, 400 kV link to Oman with Abu Dhabi. The Oman link, financed in part by a USD 100 mn Qatar Development Fund loan and a USD 500 mn interim facility from Bank Sohar International, is scheduled to enter full operation in late 2027. It has committed more than USD 3.5 bn over the next decade to strengthen the grid, integrate renewables, and open export routes to Jordan and Egypt. It’s also building a 295-km line connecting Kuwait’s Al-Wafrah substation to southern Iraq’s Al-Faw substation to supply 500 MW of power, which would take Gulf power to a non-GCC country for the first time. The project reached roughly 94-96% completion by mid-2026 but its launch was postponed on security grounds.

The water interconnection concept, meanwhile, has taken far longer to find traction. A USD 3.9 bn plan from the mid-2000s for three supranational desalination plants at Sohar, Sila, and Al-Khafji was pared back on cost. A USD 1 bn link study revived in 2013 targeted a 2020 launch — a deadline that passed without execution. French consultancy Artelia now leads the feasibility work, examining bilateral connections between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The initial design includes two-way pipelines and a UAE connection also under assessment.

Each state is moving on its own rail segments. Saudi Arabia Railways tendered its easternmost 672-km link in May connecting to Kuwait and the UAE. Kuwait signed its design contract with Turkish firm Proyapi in April 2025 and is nearing an agreement with execution contractors for its 85-km segment. The USD 2.5 bn Hafeet Rail connecting Abu Dhabi and Oman’s Sohar has passed the halfway mark on track-laying already, with trial operations due in 4Q 2027. Cross-border sections could open before the December 2030 target.

Financing is the recurring constraint, with oil price volatility stalling rail and water projects over the past decade and no unified GCC fund to underwrite them. The Iraq-Kuwait link shows conflict can keep near-complete infrastructure from switching on, and a shared water network would spread that risk across all six members. Delivery on the rail agreement depends on members building their national segments on schedule, integrating border and operational systems, and agreeing a common regulatory regime.