​Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 13 November 2012-CESI Middle East, a market leader in power systems technical consulting and testing, signed today a contract with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to develop detailed technical specifications for a High Voltage Direct Current (hvdc) power transmission interconnector between Riyadh and Mecca covering the central and western regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This SEC mandate marks CESI Middle East’s second project win in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in less than one month. The new 800 km HDVC link will not only increase the power generation capacity of local networks but also provide a reliable back-up energy supply in such emergency situations.
Commenting on this agreement,Matteo Codazzi, Chief Executive Officer of CESI said: “We are honored to support SEC on such an important project, which will significantly improve the reliability of energy transmission in the Kingdom’s central and western regions. CESI is proud of contributing to the success of projects like this, which will enable the dynamic country of Saudi Arabia to readily meet the future challenges of energy demand. We see ourselves as a long-term player in the Middle East region with the vision of supporting the successful development of its economies.”
HVDC is a specific, technologically advanced power link that is primarily used for reliable long-distance electricity transmission. Because HVDC systems have low outage probability for long-distance transmission, they are considered to be more reliable than the more commonly used alternative current systems and are oftentimes less expensive as well.
In addition, the link will allow multiple users to benefit from the newly created increased capacity and have a power carrying capacity of 3,000MW or more, which will result in increased energy reserve margins for SEC to be able to fulfill high energy demands with greater reliability. High energy demands have increased in the various regions of the Kingdom due to the establishment of large-scale industrial manufacturing plants.
Floris Schulze, Managing Director CESI Middle East said: “This initiative delivers the solution to a real market need faced by the Kingdom’s central and western regions due to the growing high energy demand. In addition, this project will also have a positive impact on SEC’s business, as this link will provide SEC with a back-up power system for emergency situations, while providing a reliable energy source at the lowest cost to consumers under normal circumstances.”
CESI Middle East will be working in collaboration with Tractebel Engineering on this SEC project.
AlainVannerum, Product Director T&D, Tractebel Engineering said: “We are delighted to partner with CESI on such an important project for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our expertise in providing clients with leading-edge technological solutions, especially with SEC, combined with CESI’s extensive technical expertise across the Middle East, and in particular, Saudi Arabia, will undoubtedly allow the Kingdom to take a big step forward as its central and western regions will have the power system interconnection for reliable electrical power transmission.”
The Saudi government plans to create an additional 30,000 MW of generation capacity as part of its plan to ramp up power generation capacity by twofold by 2030 to meet the demand created by a growing population. Since its inception in 2000, the generation capacity of SEC has grown by 2.5 times.
According to the IMF 2012 report:Power consumption is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6 percent.SEC’s total power transmission has increased by almost 50 to 60 percent since 2010.Since 2010, SEC’s total transmission lines have increased by almost 75 percent .