Nawaf Afet Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH – Five new power generation plants will be opened before the summer vacation, said Ali Al-Barrak, CEO and President of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) here Saturday. These plants are in Shuaiba, Al-Jouf, Al-Qurayyat, Wadi Dawasir and Arar. SEC is geared up to meet the increasing demand for electricity power during the coming summer, said Al-Barrak. He called on consumers for rationalization of power consumption. “We charge about 25 percent of the real cost of electricity production for household consumption. The average cost for the production of one kilowatt/hour of electricity is 30 halalas while SEC charges only eight halalas,” he said, addressing a workshop on installing thermal insulation on buildings. Al-Barrak said that SEC has received proposals with regard to reviewing electricity tariff. “We will take appropriate decisions after carrying out studies,” he said, noting that consumers are not prudent in consumption of electricity because of its low tariff. The SEC chief said that the household and industrial consumption makes up about 80 percent of electricity, of which 75 percent is used for air-conditioners. This means that 140 million megawatts/hour is being used for cooling houses, offices and commercial centers. Underlining the need for implementing thermal insulation, Al-Barrak said that this would help save 15 percent of power consumption for air-conditioners. “As many as one million housing units have been built over the past three years without installing thermal insulation,” he said and added: “SEC would constitute a working team to make inspection tours of houses to check whether they are carrying out the decision to install thermal insulation. In the case of those who fail to abide by it, we will disconnect electricity supply.” Around SR502.5 billion worth of power generation and water projects are being lined up for the next decade to drive electrical generation upwards at around 49 percent through 2019. A study prepared by Center for Engineering Research for the Saudi Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority forecast, among others, that the demand is expected to reach a level of 57,808 MW in the year 2023. The energy requirement is expected to reach a figure of 343,110 GWh in the year 2023. The high growth in GDP scenario will result in demand of 93,779 MW in 2023. The corresponding energy requirement is expected to reach 556,607 GWh. The demand forecast for the low growth scenario is 52,588 MW in the year 2023. The corresponding energy requirement is expected to reach 312,127 GWh. A 13 percent average electricity generation growth rate is needed by 2015 to meet energy demand in Saudi Arabia, the study said.
