FINANCIAL NEWS

Saudi Electricity awards USD186m contracts

14 Aug 2012

(MENAFN) Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), Middle East’s biggest utility, has awarded three contracts worth around USD186 million to build 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, Reuters reported.

CEO Ali Al Barrak was quoted as saying that the awards were part of the SEC’s efforts to strengthen the power grid to meet rising demand and avoid power cuts.

Last month, thousands of people suffered from blackouts, including some in two of the Kingdom’s biggest cities Jeddah and Riyadh, as demand soared during the holy month of Ramadan, weighing on supply margins and overloaded distribution systems, 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, the company said, adding that it had a low level of reserve margins used for peak demand.

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