ALKHOBAR: Saudi Electricity Co. plans to raise capacity at its Qassim oil-fired power plant by around 360 megawatts (MW) over the next three years, SEC's chief executive said on Wednesday.

SEC raised capacity at the plant by 720 MW to 1,700 MW in the last few months and plans to push capacity above 2,000 MW by installing combined cycle technology to boost efficiency.

"There is also another expansion which has been approved to convert the units into units with combined cycle that will add another 360 MW and will be online in three years," Ali bin Saleh Al-Barrak said.

A new crude oil pipeline has been built to feed the plant, SEC said in a statement, ending the dependence on trucks to transport fuel to it.

SEC is having to invest billions of dollars to meet electricity demand that is rising by around 9 percent a year.