SEC says its Waad al-Shamal power plant saves 4 mln barrels of oil

Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC), the Kingdom’s utility provider, said that Waad al-Shamal combined cycle power plant, which partially depends on solar power to generate electricity, saved nearly 4 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The plant commissioning came within SEC’s strategy to build high-tech power projects in line with the Kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In July 2018, the utility company started operations at the Waad al-Shamal combined cycle power plant, as it invested more than SAR 3.75 billion in the 1,050 megawatt power plant.

The station includes the first gas turbine manufactured locally by General Electric (GE).

In 2015, GE was awarded a nearly $1 billion contract for the engineering, construction and provision of gas turbine services for SEC’s Waad Al Shamal combined cycle power plant, which will support the phosphate mining operations in the locality.