The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has revealed a plan to deal with the increasing demand for power this summer. It intends to operate some stations in full swing, such as the first power unit of Rabigh Independent Power Generation Project with a capacity of 600 megawatts, the Power Transfer Station in northwest Jeddah, and Taif Central Power Transfer Station. This is in addition to six new main power stations in the districts of Shamiya and Batha Quraish in Makkah and Al-Andalus, Al-Salam and Al-Sinayeh in Jeddah. The SEC will link the said power transfer stations with its network. It will enhance the work of other power distribution networks and reduce the load on them. Electricity networks will undergo preventive maintenance to ensure that they provide safe electrical services. The company rented 60-megawatt power generation units to deal with the low voltage of power stations in Al-Leith and Al-Muwaih governorates. It will continue to coordinate with the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq) and Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) to increase power capacity when necessary. The SEC showed in its recent report that the power consumption rate in Makkah had increased by 62 percent from 13 megawatts in 2000 to 21 megawatts in 2011. With this increase, the number of villages that benefited from electricity services rose from 592 in 2000 to 1,763 in 2011. __
