13 December 2005 - Areva T&D has signed its third contract in the Middle East in as many weeks, which will see it receive a total of €334m ($399m) in return for improving transmission infrastructure.

Under the first contract, Areva will expand the electricity transmission network in the capital of Qatar after it received a €140m contract from the state owned utility. Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation commissioned the work in response the rapid and substantial development of high-rise buildings in Doha. Areva aims to design and install six new electrical substations in a timescale of 18 months.

The contract in Qatar follows the recent announcement that Areva had signed two contracts with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority as part of the first phase of a multi billion-dollar project to link the networks of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

Under the two agreements, worth a total of €194m, Areva will carry out a variety of tasks including the supply of the Middle East's first high voltage direct current station and a fully integrated grid automation solution. The 1800 MW station will convert the frequency between Saudi Arabia's transmission grid, 380 kV 60 Hz, and the power network connecting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, 400 kV 50 Hz.

In parallel, the company will design and build the entire automation system for the network of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Areva will build a new control centre that will guarantee the efficiency and safety of the power grid while enabling the recording and billing of energy transactions between the different countries. It will also develop telecommunications infrastructure over approximately 800 km that will relay key substation information to the control centre.