| Saudi Electricity Company | |
| Type: | Public |
| Traded As: | Tadawul |
| Location City: | Al Aridh, Riyadh |
| Location Country: | Saudi Arabia |
| Key People: |
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| Industry: | Electric utility |
| Subsid: |
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Saudi Electricity Company (Arabic: الشركة السعودية للكهرباء; SEC) is the Saudi electric energy company. It enjoys a near monopoly on the generation, transmission and distribution of electric power in Saudi Arabia through 45 power generation plants in the country.[2] In 2019, SEC was ranked by Forbes as the 5th largest company in the Kingdom, and the 578th worldwide, with total annual sales of $17.1 billion .[3]
The company was formed in 2000 by Order of the Council of Ministers through a merger of existing regional electricity companies in the Central, Eastern, Western and Southern regions into a single joint stock company.[4] [5]
In 2009, the Electricity and Co-generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA) announced its intention to split the company into four generation companies and separate transmission and distribution companies to encourage competition in the domestic utilities sector.[6] A transmission company – National Grid SA – was established in 2012 to operate the National Grid SA.[7] [8]
In 2014, ECRA was said to have hired advisors on the break-up of the company.[9] ECRA also confirmed the new generation companies will be open to foreign investment.[7]
The company is 81.24 percent owned by the government, both directly (74.31%) and through Saudi Aramco (6.93%).[2]
In 2015, SEC, Taqnia Energy and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) agreed to collaborate to build and operate the first standalone solar power station in the country.[10]
For the first six months of 2022, net profit fell 6.6% to SAR7 million, while total comprehensive income slipped 0.14% to SAR7.7 million.[11]