Naif Al-Abadi, director general of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC), has warned against the alarmingly high rate of energy consumption in the Kingdom.
He said the per capital consumption of electricity in Saudi Arabia was three times higher than the world average. He attributed the unbridled consumption of power to the cheap cost of electricity in the Kingdom.
“Air conditioners consume more than 70 percent of power, particularly during the summer, putting an operational and financial burden on the electrical system in the Kingdom,” he said.
Al-Abadi said that sales of air conditioners in the Kingdom registered a 12 percent growth annually, putting the number of air conditioners used in the country at 17 million.
He also said that there was no system in place to monitor the energy efficiency of air conditioners used in the Kingdom. “The center, in cooperation with other related agencies, is striving to monitor the air conditioner market and ensure that imported and locally manufactured air conditioners fulfill the required power efficiency standards,” he said.
He believed the power consumption in the Kingdom would continue to increase, expecting it to double to reach 8 million BOEPD. “This is a very high level of electricity utilization compared to global consumption,” he said.
Al-Abadi also lamented the wastage of oil and gas resources in a nonproductive manner.
He said the SEEC’s efforts to economize power consumption included encouraging the application of thermal insulation in the housing projects commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.
He said that low fuel costs in the Kingdom compared to other countries was a factor that led to wasteful use of fuel in the transport sector. He stressed the need for a public transport system to cut back on energy usage. Adoption of old technologies requiring higher fuel consumption by some industrial establishments is another factor involved in the wastage of the precious energy wealth, he said.
Al-Abadi said the SEEC’s mission included providing a strategic plan to support the maintenance of national energy sources so as to enhance the country’s development and economy through rationalization and raising the efficiency of energy consumption.
‘High energy consumption alarming’
