SEC successfully passes 61,162 MW peak load

The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has successfully passed the biggest test for its capacity after the Kingdom registered a record peak load of 61,162 megawatts (MW), surpassing last year’s peak, 666 MW, under high temperature rises that reached approximately 50 degrees Celsius in some areas.

The company said in a statement that it was able at noon on Sunday, specifically at 2.30 p.m., to pass the standard peak load successfully, noting that a new peak load of 16,560 MW was recorded in the western region for the current year, coinciding with a high rise in temperature in both the Makkah and Madinah regions and the beginning of the last ten days of Ramadan.

The SEC has stressed that the infrastructure of the electrical projects, early preparations for the maintenance programs, and implementation of new projects that have entered the service since the beginning of this year, have played a positive role in strengthening the electrical system, improving efficiency and meeting the growing demand for electricity in the Kingdom.

The company praised the efforts and achievements of more than 23,000 Saudi engineers and technicians trained at the highest international levels and having distinctive expertise, which enabled them to manage and maintain the electrical system, emergency operations, technical teams and customer service.

The company said that its generation capacity available had reached 74.3 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2016. More than 700 stations of ultra-high voltage at the company and 550,000 km of distribution lines have contributed to the delivery of electricity to about 500,000 subscribers annually across 13,000 cities, villages and residential communities.

The SEC has succeeded in improving the delivery time of electricity service to new subscribers by 30 percent, while its technical and administrative cadres have succeeded in making a big leap in its operational capabilities and enhancing the reliability of the electrical service to more than 8.6 million subscribers in the Kingdom, making the Saudi Electricity Company the largest electricity company in the Middle East and North Africa.