Saudi Electricity Company: Plans to Enhance Investment Opportunities

In the last few years, in order to achieve the goals and aspirations of Vision 2030, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has been implementing a number of plans and projects for the localization of the electric power industries, which aims to transform Saudi Arabia into a promising regional center in this vital area.

This has contributed to an increase in the number of national companies and factories involved in the implementation of electrical projects and an increase in local industries used in the company's projects, compared to international materials and industries, in line with the National Transition Program 2020 (NTP 2020) to support the economy of the country.

Saudi Electricity Company is implementing a number of initiatives and investment opportunities in the electricity sector, rehabilitating local manufacturers and suppliers, as well as attracting foreign companies and factories to transform the Kingdom into a regional center for electrical industry in the Middle East and North Africa .

In further details Asharq Al-Awsat attained, SEC explained that it has a long-term strategy to support local content, factories and national companies and over the past years, it had taken important steps to support this trend.

With regard to the investment opportunities that can be offered by the company to local manufacturers, SEC revealed that it has prepared a booklet containing 100 investment opportunities to manufacture the materials needed. It confirmed that it is one of the first companies in the Kingdom and one with highest national procurement, up to 70 percent.

The Company explained that it developed direct communication channels with national manufacturers to exchange ideas and visions, discuss obstacles and problems that may impede the achievement of these strategic plans and determine the best practical solutions for them through holding specialized forums and periodic meetings with manufacturers and contractors.

It will also provide needed information for economic feasibility study of the materials that the company wishes to provide locally, in addition to publishing online the five-year plan for the company's needs of materials and spare parts, as well as technical specifications of the materials.

In the same context, SEC stressed that it is not possible to proceed with the implementation of its plans to settle the electrical industries in the Kingdom without the participation of national expertise and competencies, stressing that it is working on the implementation of a future strategy to increase employment opportunities for nationals in the field of electrical industries in the Kingdom.

Due to local experiences and capabilities, the Company was able to reach a number of achievements at the local and regional levels, with the Saudization rate reaching 91.1 percent. It indicated that its experience in the electric power industry and its vision for this vital sector is a pioneering experience.

SEC pointed out that Saudi engineers and technicians who lead the operation and management of electrical facilities and stations, proved that the people of this country are able to compete globally in all fields, especially since over 20,000 trained personnel graduated from various training institutes affiliated with it.

"The company's institutes have contributed over 30 years in developing the capabilities of thousands of young Saudis to work inside and outside the company and provide the various activities of the company with their needs," added SEC.

It asserted that employees and trainees’ assessments is done in accordance with the latest specialized programs.

The company succeeded in reducing the length of delivery of electricity to new subscribers to 28 working days, and delivering its services to about half a million subscribers in more than 13.1 thousand cities, villages, and residential communities in all regions of the Kingdom. The total number of subscribers in April 2018 reached more than 9.2 million, while the capacity of the power plants reached more than 54 GW.

The power plants’ efficiency reached 40 percent, which is the level planned to be reached in 2020, which is in line with the company's strategy in adopting technologies to reduce fuel consumption within the Vision 2030.

Saudi Electricity has also made a leap in its consumer services and e-services sector to facilitate all transactions for subscribers through digital channels. Recently, it transformed to electronic bill for all subscribers instead of the paper bill and will issue more than nine million electronic invoices in one day, which is 28 of each month.

In addition, the company started implementing solar projects in a number of power plants, such as Waad al-Shamal Power Plant. It also established several projects such as Saudi Electricity Company for the Development of Projects, and Dawiyat Telecom Company was licensed to use telecommunications services.

In 2017, Saudi Electricity Company ranked 14th worldwide among international power companies, according to Statista, an online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.

Saudi Electricity Company: Plans to Enhance Investment Opportunities