Saudi Electricity signs SR 700 million deals

Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) is spending hundreds of millions of riyals to improve its power distribution network. A statement from SEC said yesterday that it had awarded three contracts worth around SR 700 million in total involving the construction of two substations to boost its networks in Jeddah and in the Madinah area, and to extend cables to some plants in Riyadh. The contracts are part of the company’s efforts to boost the electricity network, meet rising demand and avoid power cuts, said SEC Chief Executive Officer Ali Al-Barrak. The contracts will cover the support systems and civil works for the projects, he said. The first contact, worth SR 416 million, is to build a switching station of 380 kv. The second deal, worth SR 81 million, is to boost the power supply in Jeddah with the construction of switching stations of 110 kv, said the CEO. The third contract, worth of SR200 million, is to link various substations in Riyadh with 380 kv cables. SEC said in July demand for power reached more than 50,500 MW and hit a record high peak load, despite an addition of 3,500 MW of power generation capacity, but said it had a low level of reserve margins used for peak demand. From arabnews