No more outages, says Saudi power chief

POWER PLEDGE: Electricity boss in Saudi Arabia has pledged to prevent outages. (Getty Images)

A senior electricity official has pledged to maintain an uninterrupted electricity supply in Saudi Arabia following power cuts across the kingdom on Wednesday.

Power went out for several hours in many cities in four provinces in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia.

But Saleh Mohammed Al-Onaizan, acting CEO of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), said in Arab News on Friday that the SEC was currently on an expansion course with ambitious plans to ensure full electrification of all Saudi cities and villages by 2010.

“The SEC has already fixed the faults at a few power plants in different cities and towns, including the industrial city of Jubail, Hail, Qassim and Riyadh, which were hit by power blackouts,” he said. "Power was fully restored by about 8.30pm Wednesday in all parts of the country."

The state-controlled SEC is the Kingdom’s largest power generator and distributor of electricity. It has recently agreed to an SR6 billion Shariah-compliant loan with a group of six local banks to refinance maturing debt and help pay for new projects.

The company spent SR13.5 billion on expansion projects last year alone, according to an SEC statement.

It has also signed an agreement for a multi-billion-riyal turnkey contract to build a new 1,200 megawatt steam power plant.

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