The issuance tender of construction tenders for the estimated $1.6bn cross-border power link between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has been delayed.

Cairo and Riyadh had been planning to issue construction tenders for the cross-border, power-sharing network in the first quarter 2014, but will not be released until December at the earliest.

The delay is due to further preliminary studies are carried out into the scheme, Nasser al-Qahtani, deputy governor of Saudi Arabia’s Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) told local press.

The governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a cross-border power line on 1 June 2013. The connection will have the capacity to transport 3,000MW a day.

The scheme has been discussed for several years and was stalled following the political change in Egypt in 2011. The link will mean Egypt is connected to the four-year-old GCC electricity network, which began operations in mid-2009. It is based on a study originally completed by the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development.

Egypt is expected to fund about 40 per cent of the project, with Saudi Arabia scheduled to pay the remaining 60 per cent.