Amid a global financial crisis triggering recession worldwide, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, continues his never-ending development policies begun with his accession to the throne in August 2005 with a world-scale power project worth SR6 billion to be inaugurated soon across the nation. The project will connect the Kingdom's regions by guaranteeing the flow of a better and uninterrupted power supply, said Ali Al-Barak, CEO of the Saudi Electricity Company. The Kingdom is planning to raise power output to cope with consumption requirements in the country as it continues to grow. The network project will connect the Western Province with both the Central and Southern Provinces and the Central Province with the Eastern Province. The Southern Province in which many areas experienced power outages for days on end last month will have a dedicated and integrated power network connecting all regions. The power network linking the Central and Western Provinces will cost SR3.34 billion; the cost of the power line connecting the Southern and Western Provinces is set at SR520 million; the Central and Eastern Province power line is worth SR210 million; and the power network within the Southern Province itself is worth SR1.94 billion, Al-Barak said. The national electricity network is slated for completion by the end of 2010. Set at SR780 million, a power line of 420 km connecting Madina and Qassim will require two power plants one in Madina worth SR645 million and one in Qassim worth SR776 million, Al-Barak said. The power line connecting Madina and Qassim will be connected with the power network in the Central Province along a stretch of 470 km at a cost of SR846 million, he said. Madina and the Western Province will be connected with a power line of 140 km at a cost of SR260 million, Al-Barak said. The electricity production capacity of the power line between the Eastern and Central Provinces is 2,700 megawatts, he added. As the King is scheduled to visit Madina on Monday, Al-Barak said that almost the entire Madina region has been supplied with power, except for remote villages where 365,000 people will have the lights turned on within a few years. National plan to save on power Believing in a real tangible value in being able to manage and save power, a national campaign began on Saturday. The campaign includes: increasing power efficiency in government and business offices, training power managers, scrutinizing power efficiency in new businesses and projects, imposing power standards, launching public awareness campaigns in schools and the media, creating an award of best power management, and tracking consumers with excessive power consumption. The national campaign will be closely monitored by a consortium of government and business departments including the Ministry of Water and Electricity and Aramco to create power laws. Minister to be questioned As the country went through a water crisis and blackout in the Southern Province, the Shoura Council has requested Abdullah Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hussayen, Minister of Water and Electricity, to attend a Q and A session with the Shoura Council members during the next Shoura meeting, said Sheikh Saleh Bin Humaid, chairman of the Shoura Council. – Okaz __
