Saudi Electricity Company is splashing out hundreds of millions of riyals to improve its power distribution network after thousands of people suffered blackouts last month including some in two of the kingdom's biggest cities Jeddah and Riyadh.

SEC said that it had awarded three contracts worth around SAR 700 million in total involving the construction of two substations to boost its networks in the western city of Jeddah and in the Madinah area, and to extend cables to some plants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital.

Mr Ali Bin Saleh alBarrak CEO of SEC said that the contracts, given to unnamed companies, are part of the company's efforts to boost the electricity network, meet rising demand and avoid power cuts. Several regions of Saudi Arabia suffered power cuts in July, as a surge in demand in the holy month of Ramadan squeezed supply margins and overloaded distribution systems.

Source - Reuters

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