The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has released its inaugural environmental, social and governance (ESG) report for 2019. Titled “Empowering the Future with Sustainable Energy,” the annual report showcases the ESG framework that drives SEC toward sustainability, focusing on the issues that are most critical for the company’s business and strategies.
The report also details the company’s ESG achievements and key performance indicators in 2019 in comparison to previous years.
SEC’s ESG framework is built upon three key pillars: Facilitating transition to a low-carbon and circular economy; empowering people and communities; and promoting responsible business practices. With this framework, the company aims to develop global partnerships toward a sustainable planet and align its strategy with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in unison with the Ministry of Energy, which plays a vital role in laying the foundation of a sustainable power sector in Saudi Arabia.
With 93 percent of SEC’s 34,000 employees being Saudi nationals, the company is pushing ahead with the implementation of its ESG framework to drive its sustainability goals on multiple facets, including responsible customer relations, a circular economy, mitigating climate change, energy efficiency on the supply and demand sides, managing natural resources efficiently, minimizing pollution, water and waste management, protecting biodiversity, health and safety, research and innovation, human capital, and corporate governance, among many others. All of these have contributed to improving the operational efficiency at SEC as well as achieving many economic, environmental, and social benefits.
The report also covers SEC’s priorities and targets sustainability goals in the future, such as further reducing greenhouse gas emissions through a number of work streams, including integrating renewable energy sources into the grid, increasing efficiency of power supplies, and helping customers to rationalize their electricity consumption. These targets are in line with the Ministry of Energy’s directions under the leadership of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman to support renewable energy and provide reasonably priced energy.
The Smart Metering Project, launched in early 2020, is a cornerstone of further digitizing and automating the Kingdom’s power grid, which is in line with SEC’s sustainability ambitions. The company aims to continue providing a safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable power supply to Saudi Arabia, where the need for a strong economy is optimally balanced with the need for a sound and a cleaner environment for the present and future generations.
