SEC sets up Advanced Research Center in Dhahran Techno Valley

Saudi Electricity Company and Dhahran Technology Valley Company, fully owned by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, has signed an agreement to create a sophisticated and specialized research center in Dhahran Technology Valley.
Khaled S. Al-Sultan, rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and chairman of the board of directors of Dhahran Techno Valley Company, and Ziad Al-Shiha, CEO of Saudi Electricity Company, signed the agreement.
A press conference was also held in Dhahran Technology Valley after the signing ceremony in the presence of officials of the two sides.
According to the agreement, the research center will include a number of advanced laboratories that serve the activities, research, and scientific studies carried out by the Saudi Electricity Company for the development of projects related to the production, transmission and distribution of energy, as well as upgrading the expertise of human resources.
The research center will operate in accordance with the package of modern technologies in the field of electrical energy production from different sources, to keep abreast with developments in this area.
The center also will feature new and sophisticated simulation equipment, which will contribute to the completion of studies and tests that will maintain a high level of reliability and consistency of the electrical system.
Khalid Al-Sultan was pleased with the establishment of the research center for the Saudi Electricity Company in the valley.
He said: “SEC is a leading national company in the field of power generation, and is keen to develop its technologies to enhance the quality of its services to keep in pace with development of the Kingdom in all sectors.”
Al-Sultan added: “I think that the establishment of this research center in the valley of Dhahran will help the company provide innovative technology solutions to increase the production of electric power, in light of the growing demand for electricity in the Kingdom, as the center will work in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Engineering at King Fahd University providing solutions and developing technologies to improve energy types, and the variety of its sources.”
Al-Sultan also pointed to the great acceleration in business development in Dhahran Techno Valley and the advanced steps achieved in the last period.
He said: “We finished the first phase of the science park in the valley, where the infrastructure has been completed on the latest scientific methods and specifications, all the space occupancy was delivered to local and international leading companies.”
He added: “We are currently preparing to begin the second phase, which will look at the future needs of the sector of knowledge economy.”
He said that the completion of the science park will have a significant and remarkable reflection on the Saudi economy.
“Soon, God willing, we will announce a number of the achievements of Dhahran Techno Valley regarding the development of many new technologies which were invested very well in the industrial sector and turned into concrete products”, he added.
Al-Sultan continued: “This encourages us very much to continue the efforts that we have begun before, and which we will continue working on in the future, God willing, to achieve all the desired objectives of the establishment of Dhahran Techno Valley including the localization of technology, marketing it internally and externally, and making use of it in our lives.”
Ziad Al-Shiha CEO of Saudi Electricity Company was delighted by the signing of the agreement.
He said: “This center will be the first step to building other research centers the company intends to set up in other parts of the Kingdom within the strategic transformation plan adopted by the company in the beginning of 2014, and also going ahead in the implementation of an accelerated program to support and develop the research sector in the company which will focus on the practical and technical electrical researches that achieve the strategic goals of the company.”
Al-Shiha also said that the company has great expectations to improve technical matters relating to the production of electricity in the Kingdom in order to put itself in the ranks of developed international companies.
Al-Shiha said that there is interest in the company’s management team for a continued cooperation with universities and research centers of Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the available resources and the specialized personnel at these parties which will definitely have key roles in the implementation of the company’s programs and research plans.
The agreement between King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals represented by Dhahran Techno Valley Company and the Saudi Electricity Company comes as a part of the strategic cooperation between the two sides, which will be the light of the joint research projects support.
The Saudi Electricity Company and the university recently conducted a joint cooperation agreement which implies the company to send 30 students from the university each year to study abroad bearing all of their tuition fees.