In accordance with the directives from the Board of Directors of the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority (SERA) to the Board of Directors of the Saudi Electricity Company regarding the power outage in Sharurah on Friday, July 12, 2024, which included instructions to conduct an urgent investigation into the causes of the outage and the delay in restoring electrical service, and following the company’s statement issued on Sunday, July 14, 2024, the company’s Board of Directors held an emergency meeting to review the investigation results.
The investigation, conducted under the supervision of SERA and with the assistance of independent technical consultancy firms, identified the root causes of the complete outage and the negligence and shortcomings that led to it. The main issues included a malfunction in one of the circuit breakers due to lack of necessary maintenance and failure of protection devices, which contributed to the extensive impact and resulted in a complete power outage. This led to the company
‘s failure to deliver electrical service to all consumers in Sharurah efficiently and reliably.
Based on the investigation results and with direct oversight from SERA, the company’s board has taken several urgent decisions, which include:
First: Dismissing a senior executive and three managers from their leadership positions within the company due to their negligence and failure to fulfill their responsibilities related to their assigned duties.
Second: Assigning the following individuals:
Eng. Abdulrahman bin Ahmed Al-Amoudi to carry out the duties of the Executive Vice President of ,Generation Activities
Eng. Saad bin Dheeb Al Shahrani to carry out the duties of the Head of the Southern Power Generation ,Operations Sector
Eng. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Shahrani to carry out the duties of the Director of the Department of Gas Stations for Power Generation in the ,Southern Sector
Eng. Ali bin Taleb Al Kathiri to carry out the duties of the Director of the Sharurah Power Plant
Third: Approving the imple
mentation of technical measures to address the shortcomings that led to the power outage for consumers in Sharurah, including carrying out necessary maintenance programs and reviewing the calibration of protection devices at the plant.
The Board also emphasized its full commitment to implementing all directives from the Board of Directors of SERA. This includes continuing to monitor the readiness of all power generation stations and electricity transmission and distribution networks across the Kingdom, with the assistance of independent technical consultancy firms in coordination with and under the supervision of SERA. The Board stated that it would also oversee the implementation of recommendations resulting from the review of the company’s plan for the summer of 2024 across all regions, approve necessary measures to address any deficiencies in power service delivery, and ensure accountability and penalties for those at fault according to the company’s regulations and policies. Additionally, the board will
provide urgent updates to SERA on these matters.
Source: Saudi Press Agency