AL-KHOBAR – Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) is splashing out hundreds of millions of riyals to improve its power distribution network amid growing demand. SEC said in a statement Monday it had awarded three contracts worth around SR700 million ($186.6 million) in total involving the construction of two substations to boost its networks in the western city of Jeddah and in the Madinah area, and to extend cables to some plants in Riyadh. The contracts, given to unnamed companies, are part of the company's efforts to boost the electricity network, meet rising demand and avoid power cuts, SEC said quoting its president and chief executive officer Ali Bin Saleh Al-Barrak. Several regions of Saudi Arabia suffered power cuts in July, as a surge in demand in the holy month of Ramadan squeezed supply margins and overloaded distribution systems, the utility company said. SEC said in July demand for power reached more than 50,500 megawatts and hit a record high peak load, despite an addition of 3,500 megawatts of power generation capacity, but said it had a low level of reserve margins used for peak demand. – SG
