Saudi Electricity in US$165 Million Deals

State-run Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) has signed contracts worth US$164.9 million to build 5 substations in the capital Riyadh to meet growing demand, the company said. The company signed a US$104 million contract with Saudi Arabia's National Contracting Co for one substation, due to be completed in 29 months, SEC said in a statement.

It signed a US$60.4 million contract with Al Toukhi Company for Industry, Trading & Contracting to build four substations in 27 months as part of efforts to meet rising power demand in Riyadh, the statement added.

Demand for power in the top oil exporter is growing at around 7%-8% per year.

Saudi Electricity, which produces around 40,000MW, plans to spend US$80 billion to add 20,000 MW through 2018, plus US$20 billion on independent power producer (IPP) projects to add more than 10,000 MW of capacity.

Around US$46 billion of the total investment would be spent on power generation, US$30 billion on transmission and US$20 billion on distribution, a top company official said in October 2009. - Arabian Business