Saudi Electricity Company, Saudi Arabia's national power transmission and distribution utility has given an order worth $60 million (Dh220 million) to ABB, a leading power and automation technology group.

The order has been placed with the aim to improve the power efficiency of 28 distribution substations.

According to sources, ABB will take responsibility of design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the projects, which are expected to be finalized by fiscal 2010.

ABB technologies will improve the power factor, which is a measure of how efficiently power is being used.

ABB will offer power factor correction for 19 substations rated 33/13.8 kilovolts (kV) in central, southern and northwestern provinces, and for nine, 132/33 kV substations in and around the capital, Riyadh.

Products to be supplied entail capacitor banks, reactors, medium-voltage switchgears, protection and control equipment, and a supervisory control and data acquisition system to help the utility handle the flow of power in the network.