Saudi Electricity Company

The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) is a Saudi joint stock company specialized in in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the main producer of electricity, and the sole owner of the transmission and distribution network across the Kingdom. It serves all consumer categories, and is headquartered in the capital, Riyadh.

The company was established on April 5, 2000, as a Saudi joint stock company with a capital of SAR41,665,938,150, divided into 4,166,593,815 shares after a decision by the Council of Ministers on November 30, 1998. The latter stipulated the restructuring of the electricity sector and the arrangement of its financial conditions by merging all Saudi electricity companies in the central, eastern, western and southern regions, in addition the ten companies operating in the north of the Kingdom, and the operational electricity projects managed by the General Electricity Corporation, into a single joint stock company under the name of the Saudi Electricity Company.

The Saudi government, represented by the Public Investment Fund, owns 75.1 percent of the total shares of the Saudi Electricity Company, while Aramco owns 6.93 percent. The remaining 17.97 percent is owned by the general public through institutions or individual investors.

The company attempts to restructure the electricity sector, provide world-class innovative services to both individuals and businesses with the highest security standards, and shift to a smart and sustainable electrical system. Moreover, SEC seeks to develop research and development programs, in addition to cultivating national talents, while prioritizing safety, security and the environment.

Electric power generation is the main activity of the company. SEC provides sufficient power and electrical capabilities by using highly reliable and accessible production technologies to meet the increasing demand for electric power, along with the utmost utilization of resources and investment in every potential to reduce the cost of power production. The power produced from the company's generation plants is the key pillar in supplying the Saudi electrical system, with a participation rate of 54 percent of the total electrical power during 2019.

Three SEC-owned companies carry out the main activities assigned to the sector: The National Electricity Transmission Company established in 2012 and specialized in the transport, control and maintenance of electricity, as well as leasing the capacity of the transmission network lines. Integrated Dawiyat for Telecom and Information Technology Company, which was established in 2009, invests its resources in the optical fiber system owned by the company. It covers over eighty thousand km across the Kingdom, including villages, desert and borders. The company provides integrated communication services, and improves the quality and speed of the internet in the Kingdom.

SEC also owns the Saudi Power Procurement Company (Principal Buyer), which was established in 2005. It oversees construction projects, develops detailed designs, purchases materials and implements energy projects.

SEC contributes to a number of companies operating in the field of energy production and distribution, such as the GCC Interconnection Authority, Hajr Electricity Production Company, Fadhili Plant Cogeneration Company (FPCC) and the Saudi Green Company for Carbon Services.

According to the 2019 Doing Business Report by the World Bank, SEC helped the Kingdom take a major leap forward to provide electricity for the business sector. The Kingdom was ranked eighteenth out of 190 countries after being in the sixty-fourth place in 2018.

SEC made a number of achievements though its projects, most notably the smart meter ecosystem that relies on the automated system for reading and billing. Over ten billion meters were installed in the Kingdom. SEC launched BARQ Systems, which facilitated the delivery of electricity through simple procedures within a short period of time.

The service successfully delivered electricity to 428,876 subscribers in 2021. Moreover, its transportation company was able to reach more than ninety-one thousand circular km in 2021 to transfer more than 202 terawatts per hour to more than thirteen thousand cities, villages and Bedouin settlements. The goal is to serve ten million users across the Kingdom, in addition to achieving a 94 percent localization rate of its total employees, and localizing electrical industries at a rate of 71 percent, as well as local content by 55 percent.

The year 2022 witnessed an accelerated growth in the volume of the subscriber base, as the company successfully delivered electricity to about four hundred thousand new subscribers, spread across all residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and government sectors. At the end of that year, the total number of subscribers had exceeded 10.9 million.