MAKKAH: The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) will construct a new power plant in Makkah to replace the existing one in Al-Umrah area.
The Al-Umrah plant will be turned into a referral station with no engines or generators, Al-Watan daily reported Thursday quoting the company's CEO Ali Al-Barrak.
He said the new plant will be built outside populated areas and will have a capacity of 380,000 volts. "The new station will be fully operational in four years," he said.
Al-Barrak made the statement following an inspection tour of the electricity projects in the holy sites on Wednesday.
"The ground electricity network in Makkah would be completely replaced to coincide with the unification of the power grid in the entire Kingdom. There will be no power cuts in the Western region any more and if there is, the new station will restore power in no time," he said. Al-Barrak said a second power generation station, supplying the required energy to operate Mashair trains, would be put into service very soon. Last year, there was a single power station for the trains.
He said the train service would not be disrupted because of lack of power, as there will be three sources supplying it with electricity 24/7.
Asked about the readiness of the company to meet the rising demand for electricity, especially during peak hours, Al-Barrak said the company has increased its generating capacity by 20 percent reserve in addition to seven percent of rotating reserve. "This reserve could be used at the time of need to ensure a steady supply," he said.
On diversification of the generation sources, Al-Barrak said the company is studying the use of solar energy and has experimented with this source of alternative energy at a sub-station in Jazan.
© Arab News 2011
