Wescosa was founded in 1976 to meet the growing needs of Saudi Arabia’s energy and power sector.

The company initially manufactured switchboards, panel boards and accessories under licence from Westinghouse Electric Corp of the US.
With the rapid growth and immense demand for electrical equipment in Saudi Arabia’s fast-developing economy, Wescosa began to diversify its product lines to meet market demand.
In 1978, Wescosa started manufacturing cable trays under licence from MP-Husky, a leading cable support system manufacturer in the US. This marked the start of a new era of productivity and the following years saw the company taking on a bigger role in the power industry. Wescosa later became independent and started producing transformers of the highest quality with its own design.
Today, Wescosa is going from strength to strength. Just recently, the Saudi Transformers Company (STC) – its main competitor in supplying transformers to Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) – joined Wescosa to form a holding company by the name of Electrical Industries Company (EIC).
The new holding company accounts for the lion’s share in the Middle East’s transformer business, according to Wescosa.
EIC is spearheaded by Engineer Saud Shallali, a prominent personality in the power industry, who aims to expand the company’s markets.
“Our power industry is changing from a simple to a more complex equation, and we need reliable players to play a major role in these changes. I believe that with Wescosa’s talented workforce and state-of-the-art facilities, we can work hand in hand in transforming the industry. We will be a one-stop-shop partner in electrical and power supplies,” says Shallali, EIC’s new executive president.
Wescosa’s strategic business plan has seen the company divide its services into two divisions; the Switchgear Business Unit (SBU) and the Transformer Business Unit (TBU).
The Switchgear Business Unit, led by Engineer Omar Hassan, posted remarkable revenues of $77 million last year (2006), double the figure registered in 2005.
With its vast range of products – from panel boards to medium voltage switchgear including cable bus, the SBU is confident of improving on its 2006 performance and has projected sales of $100 million for 2007.
“Our continuing development has now seen us manufacture relay panels and cable bus and in addition to our wide experience in ANSI LV (low voltage) and MV (medium voltage) switchgear, we are now supplying LV and MV switchgear to IEC standards, which gives us an edge in the market,” says Hassan.
Wescosa is so confident of capturing new markets that it has widened its production line and invested more than SR60 million ($16 million) to boost its manufacturing capability, procuring sophisticated machinery in preparation for its journey towards becoming a world-class manufacturer.
Wescosa has entered into an agreement with Pauwels of Belgium, a pioneer in manufacturing power transformers, to share its expertise and offer technical support in the manufacture of power transformers of up to 20-MVA.
Commenting on the collaboration with Pauwels, Engineer Hussam Al Shaik, vice-president of the TBU says: “I am amazed and excited by these changes. This marks a turning point in Wescosa’s history, with the new machineries and newly acquired technology from Pauwels.”
Meanwhile, Engineer Mohammed Abusa’ada, the sales and marketing manager of TBU, is upbeat over the company’s fast-growing business in transformer market. “The demand is there and the market is buoyant, yet there is much work to be done. What matters is that Wescosa has transformed its vision into reality,” he says.
The TBU has also expanded its product range with so-called ‘rectifying and multi-taps transformers’, which are designed for use for devices which are prone to higher harmonic disturbances such as variable speed drives and electrical submersible pumps. Wescosa see good demand for the new line among oil producers such as Saudi Aramco and is proud to offer this products indigenously.
Looking ahead, Wescosa says it is committed to supporting its customers. The company has strong faith in its workforce and encourages their continuous pursuit of perfection through training, innovation and product development. It is also committed to meeting the objectives of its business partners and to investing in the community.
And as Wescosa starts marketing its products beyond Saudi Arabia into the rest of the region, including Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen, Abusa’ada predicts a bright future: “We intend to use our resources to the maximum, we are committed to developing the power industry and the time has come to reach new horizons,” he concludes.