Aggreko powers up Saudi Electric deal

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 21:48

TEMPORARY power supplier Aggreko has won a contract from the Saudi Electric Company to help the firm overcome seasonal power shortages in the Middle East state.

The Glasgow-based firm, which is supplying power to this weekend's Glastonbury Festival, said the contract would last at least three months and would take the amount supplied to the Saudi Electric Company to 170 megawatts.

The win comes days after chief executive Rupert Soames admitted demand had deteriorated in the second quarter in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The international division is supplying the power at six sites north of the capital, Riyadh.

Power shortages are common in the Middle East, which experiences extreme temperature spikes in the summer. Midday temperatures in Saudi Arabia can exceed 50C, causing surges in demand from domestic and industrial users as they seek additional cooling from air-conditioning.

Soames said: "We were able to propose an appropriate solution within just a few days and we will be supplying power to the people of Saudi Arabia within five weeks."

He added: "Aggreko has been providing temporary power in Saudi Arabia for many years."

Aggreko said last week that first-half revenue, excluding currency movements, is expected to be 10 per cent lower in the US, compared with the start of 2008, and 11 per cent lower in Europe and the Middle East.

It has previously warned it will struggle to match the second half of 2008, when it was boosted by supplying power to the Beijing Olympics, the US presidential debates and inauguration, and a busy hurricane season.