The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has allocated SR452 billion to implement energy projects until the year 2021, SEC Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Saleh Bin Hussein Al-Awaji said Wednesday. These projects will provide services consistent with international standards, including building up an adequate power at a peak time about 10 percent of combined capacity. The SEC annual report 2011, he added, indicated that the company is currently implementing several projects at a total cost exceeding SR100 billion in its efforts to meet the growing demand for electricity and continuous keenness on providing the best levels of services. The company has prepared an integrated plan until 2021 to cope with the rapid growth in electric loads resulting from continued economic growth and prosperity being witnessed by the Kingdom, he pointed out. Eng. Ali Al-Barrak, the CEO and President of SEC, meanwhile reiterated the company's commitment to meeting the increasing demand on energy through well-devised plans and programs that pinpoint human, technical, and financial needs. The SEC has contributed to achieving tangible results in terms of developing and enhancing its capabilities to keep up with the increasingly growing economy across all fields and sectors, he explained, adding that the demand on electricity shot up 8 percent. Over the past 11 years, the SEC has successfully achieved 96 percent of the national plans and introduced high-voltage power all over the Kingdom, he noted. "We increased the current capability of generating power from 24,083 megawatts to about 51,148 megawatts. Plus, the length of power transmission networks increased from 29,166 circuit kilometers to 49,675 circuit kilometers." Moreover, the number of subscribers increased from 3.5 million to 6.3 million while the number of cities, towns and villages which has electricity reached 12,256 from only 7,406, or an increase of 65.4 percent, he pointed out. The company has encouraged local industries and increased by 90 percent its purchases from the local market to SR6 billion and opened the investment door for the private sector which bought into projects totaling SR28 billion to produce 7,000 megawatts. – SG __
