SEC completes SAR 1 bln preparations for Hajj

Saudi Electricity Co. headquarters

Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) completed Hajj season 2023 preparations for electrical services at the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, under the supervision of Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

In a statement, SEC said this came after the implementation of a number of new projects, the cost for which exceeded SAR 1 billion, including the construction and linking of transmission and distribution stations to the interconnected public network, in addition to automating the distribution network at the holy sites.

The company is keen to ensure comfort for pilgrims, by implementing its electrical operational plan for this season.

This requires providing reliable and continuous electrical service, to be availed through the company’s recently implemented projects that aim at enhancing the electrical network, SEC added, noting that all electrical networks at the holy sites have been automated to enhance the service reliability, and reduce restoration time in case of outages.

It indicated that the company's preparations for this Hajj season went through several stages. The first phase started from the end of last year’s Hajj, by studying the performance indicators of the operating plan, with the aim of improving and developing the quality of services provided to the pilgrims.

Thereupon, the company approved a number of projects, going through the second phase, in which the implementation of these projects were completed within a short period of time.

The third phase included the implementation of two comprehensive tests to simulate actual loads during Hajj season to test the readiness and reliability of the electrical network.

The electrical operational plan is based on several pillars, the most important of which are the full supervision of electrical network operation and maintenance, in accordance with the highest specifications of public safety, occupational and environmental health; as well as strengthening the electrical system to ensure the highest levels of reliability, by operating the generation units with the maximum possible production capacity at peak time.

The company stated that the available capacities at the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah amounted to about 21,646 megawatts. According to the company’s studies and technical reports, the peak load this year is expected to exceed 4,737 megawatts, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of about 28%.

In response to this expected increase in loads, the electrical network in Makkah was strengthened, by enhancing the electrical network at the holy sites with capacities of 100 MVA, which is the largest annual addition to be implemented so far.

The operational plan focused on strengthening the company's presence at the holy sites, by increasing the electricity starting centers, from 43 to 93; noting that all of which operate around the clock. The centers are well distributed across the holy sites, the central region, and the pilgrim housing areas.

The starting centers are also strengthened by a large group of engineers, technicians, and specialists of trained national competencies, accompanied by technical teams from the emergency and maintenance of generation stations and transmission lines.

They are, moreover, equipped with geographical information systems, and the of field team management systems.

The company adopted the use of automatic control systems for electrical networks, in Mina, for quick access to reporting and restoring sites.

It also completed all programed and preventive maintenance work for all components of the electrical network, before the start of the season, noting that these works exceeded 32,716 operations with the participation of civil defense and relevant authorities.

As many as 2,123 participants, engineers, technicians and specialists, of national competencies, participated in the implementation of SEC operational plan this year, in Makkah and Madinah, and the holy sites, under the slogan of "Peace and Security".