"The actual power generating capacity reached 38,680MW in 2009, registering an increase of 10.6 percent compared to the previous year," the report said, adding Saudi Electricity Company sold 274,391 gigawatts/hour in 2009 with an increase of 6.8 percent.

The company has invested $38 billion (SR142.5 billion) on electricity projects since its formation on April 5, 2000 until the end of 2008 for generation, transmission and distribution.

The report said 50 percent additional capacity would enter service during the next three years, adding that SR38 billion were spent for new projects to increase production capacity.

"The SEC is currently implementing projects worth SR84 billion in various regions of the Kingdom, in addition to projects with a capacity of 15,000 megawatts that will enter service this year," the report pointed out.

The number of electricity subscribers in the Kingdom reached 5.7 million by the end of 2009, up 5.2 percent from 2008.

Last month, the company approved the award of seven power projects worth SR14.7 billion ($3.92 billion) to meet rising demand in the Kingdom. The award includes expansion of the Rabigh power plant and other power transmission and generation projects.

The plant, Rabigh 6, will have a capacity of 2,400 to 2,800 megawatts, about 12 to 14 percent of the 20,000 megawatts the SEC plans to add through 2018, at an estimated total cost of $80 billion (SR300 billion).

SEC will finance the projects through loans and its own resources, a company statement said without providing further details.

South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction submitted the lowest bid of SR12.7 billion to build the plant in Rabigh on the western coast of Saudi Arabia.

Power demand in the world's largest oil exporter is rising at an annual eight percent and is expected to triple to 121,000 megawatts from 40,000 megawatts currently, government officials said.

SEC's board of directors also approved a number of 380KV power transmission lines with a total length of 886 kilometers as well as three 380KV transformer stations in Al-Jouf, Hail and the Eastern Province with a total capacity of 2,500 megawatts.

A senior SEC official said a number of important electricity projects would enter service this year, including the 10th power plant in Riyadh with a capacity of 880 megawatts and the newly expanded Wadi Al-Dawasser plant with a capacity of 110 megawatts in addition to Duba, Qassim-2 and Rabigh-6 plants.

The SEC recently completed two power linkage projects between the central and western regions and western and southern regions. With the completion of these two projects, the company has linked about 95 percent of the Kingdom's power network.