SCHNEIDER Electric has won SR120 million ($31.9 million) contract to provide an automated lighting controls system for  the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) centre in Jeddah. The contract was awarded by Setra e.Vision, the project’s system integrator.

The project, scheduled to be completed in August 2012 spans over 50,000 sq m with an impressive architectural design comprising 19 floors of offices and service and control areas. The new centre will be responsible for compiling and correcting meteorological bulletins from GCC countries, other Arabian territories, several African countries and adjacent seas and oceans. It will subsequently disseminate the data to the World Meteorological Organisation for global and regional exchange.

Schneider Electric will install KNX products that control and monitor lighting systems including presence sensors, switching and dimming which will create a green building that saves energy and makes it more efficient, a statement said.

Hesham AboRejal, vice-president – LifeSpace and Residential Business at Schneider Electric, said the contract was won in the face of competition from leading technical and commercial companies.  “We presented our offerings to Al Angari, the project contractor, AD Consultant and the project consultant as well as Setra e.Vision on the basis of the high-quality service Schneider Electric engineers have achieved.”

Upon the completion of the building, Jeddah will be one of the world’s four regional telecommunication hubs (RTH) that have receiving/transmission capability. The other hubs are located in Beijing, New Delhi and Tokyo.

Schneider Electric has enjoyed a presence in the Saudi market for more than 30 years. The company has two manufacturing plants and three regional branches in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, in addition to five local sales offices that ensure proximity to partners and customers.