JEDDAH: The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) is close to completing a major power plant in the Northern Borders Region that would provide electricity for the Waad Al-Shamal Project for Mining Industries, one of largest industrial cities in the Kingdom.
Covering 440 square km, Waad Al-Shamaal will be a city of 100,000 and a mining complex with seven world-scale phosphate processing plants. Khaled Al-Rashed, president and chief executive officer of project developments at the SEC, said that the electricity projects for this city was the model for all others in the Kingdom.
According to reports, the turnkey power plant, supplying four advanced heavy duty gas turbines and a team turbine, and featuring solar innovation technology, will produce 1,390MW, able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes.
Al-Rashed said the city and other developments would create many jobs for young Saudis. It would also contribute to the diversification of the economy through projects including phosphate, lime, salt, chemicals, glass, plastics and other light industries.
Al-Rashed added that the company is about to launch seven projects for electricity transfer stations in the region, costing over SR2 billion. They would all be connected to the northern region network through overhead and ground lines over 720 km. This would support projects worth SR26 billion in the region.
He said it was also important to connect the Kingdom’s electrical grid to Egypt, and in the future with Europe. This was part of the company’s strategic transformation program adopted two years ago, he said.
Major power plant in north almost complete
Major power plant in north almost complete
