https://arab.news/z34b9
RIYADH: Masar Makkah, a $27-billion mega project under development in Islam's holy city, is advancing work with new deal for its power requirments.
The project developer Umm Al-Qura Co. for development and construction, known as UAQ, signed an agreement with the National Electricity Transmission Co. to establish two central transmission stations and linking them to the electrical system network.
This agreement comes within the efforts made by the Saudi Electricity Company and its subsidiaries to provide a highly reliable electrical service to all giant projects in the Kingdom, Ibrahim Al-Jarbou, CEO of the Electricity Transmission Co. said.
Masar Makkah is 30 percent away from the completion of its infrastructure phase, Yasser Abu Ateeq CEO of Umm Al-Qura told Asharq News in Novebmer, adding that it has spent SR17 billion from the total SR23 billion allocated for the first phase, with the partial opening of the project slated for 2023.
The importance of Masar lies in its position as it will receive 80 percent of Makkah’s visitors as well as more than 60 percent of vehicles arriving from Jeddah. International hotels such as the Kempinski, Hilton Garden Inn and Taj will be some of the first developments of the project.
UAQ is a closed joint-stock company with investors from the private sector and state-owned investment funds, including the Public Investment Fund, Ministry of Finance, Public Pension Agency, the General Organization for Social Insurance, and the General Authority of Awqaf.