Saudi Arabia Aims to Double Capacity with 50,731 Megawatts of Additional Power by 2020

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Saudi Electric Company's (SEC) executive vice president, Fouad Alsherebi, said at Power-Gen Middle East in Qatar that Saudi Arabia's installed power capacity is expected to double by the end of the decade.

At the end of 2011, installed capacity stood at 50,907 MW, and 50,731 MW of additional power have been targeted for 2020, he said.

SEC plans to invest $80 billion to add 30,000 MW of power generation capacity by 2018 to met surging power demand. SEC also has approved a budget of $14.66 billion for the construction of new power plants, transmission and distribution projects in 2012.

The installed capacity increase forms a part of SEC's plans to connect the country's grid, which at present is made up of fragmented networks. Saudi Arabia's gas output is supplied to industries other than the power sector, and a major amount of oil is used annually to fire power stations. The government is hoping that with an ambitious nuclear power plant construction program and the used of gas-firing and solar power-sourced energy, the burning of oil can be reduced.

A total of more than $100 billion will be invested to construct 16 nuclear plants in different parts of the country, and the government has allocated $3 billion for the production of solar energy panels in Jubail and Yanbu.

But even as this strategy is being developed, SEC is planning to build a new oil-fired plant In Jeddah. The 2,400-MW Jeddah South plant will burn heavy fuel oil and is scheduled for completion in 2016. Local sources say that at least five companies are bidding for the project.

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