The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has established a new era by adopting Accelerated Strategic Transformation Program (ASTP) for developing the company business and investments and competing global performance indicators. The company has begun to implement new strategies of financing projects, raising the efficiency and improving the performance of the production of electricity to reduce fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, that has attracted the global financial institutions to interact with the company steps. In March, during South Korea President Park Geun-hye's visit, a number of important agreements and memorandums in different fields was signed. The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) signed three MoUs with companies and finance institutions in South Korea. The first was with the Korean National Electric Company for mutual cooperation in research and development, training of human resources, electricity transmission, nuclear and renewable energy, and projects development, is for a period of three years. The second MoU had been signed with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. for mutual cooperation in the field of training of human resources, development of power plants, and renewable energy for a period of two years from the date of signature. The third MoU had been signed with Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-EXIM) for discussing a framework agreement for a period of three years from the date of signature, that allows the company to obtain a loan of $3 billion for financing its projects with the bank guarantee. SEC, on Wednesday, activated the MoU that was signed with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-EXIM) in Seoul, by signing of the Framework Agreement with the bank's credit ceiling of up to $3 billion. By this agreement, the company can finance projects with Korean contents during the next three years, which will support the company's plans and investments to meet the growing demand for electricity in the light of the enormous economic developing projects in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ziyad Bin Mohamed Al-Shiha, CEO of SEC, explained after signing ceremony in Seoul, that this agreement underlines the confidence of global financial institutions in the financial and economic position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it is one of the 20 largest economy in the world, which reflected positively on the projects and investments of the Saudi Electricity Company and its position in the regional and global markets as it is the largest electric power company in the Middle East and North Africa. The CEO of SEC pointed out that the Company implemented ambitious plans in the field of energy conservation and rationalizing its use, where the company provides all the support for the programs and the efforts of the Saudi Center for Energy Efficiency. He asserted that SEC is working to keep the fuel by implementing programs and projects to raise the performance efficiency while reducing costs production through conversion of power plants from simple cycle to combined cycle, and implementing projects of renewable energy. The company is currently establishing a green generation station of Deba which is one of the largest projects in the world that blends its modules of composite power that run on gas with units Solar energy project, with a total capacity of 605 megawatts, and the solar power plant in the city of Aflaj with capacity of 50 megawatts, in cooperation with King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, Al-Shiha revealed. —SG
