Saudi Arabia 'needs to spend' $140bn on power projects

Saudi Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) has said that the kingdom needs to spend SR526bn ($140.3bn) on electricity projects over the next decade to meet the fast growing demand in the country, Zawya Dow Jones has reported. Around 63.7% of the amount will be invested in power generation, while the rest will be spent on power transfer and distribution, ECRA said. Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) is expected to invest $80bn over the next 10 years to add 20,000 megawatts of power generation capacity. Demand for power grew last year in the kingdom by more than 8% and is expected to grow to more than 60,000 megawatt by 2020.