- The monthly electricity bill for the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest in Mecca amounts to SR15 million, or around $4 million.
- Energy consumption is distributed across several massive systems and infrastructures in the mosque, which is a major destination for Muslims from all over the world.
The monthly electricity bill for the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest in Mecca amounts to SR15 million, or around $4 million, a Saudi TV report has disclosed.
The sprawling mosque and its facilities consume nearly 100 megavolt amperes (MVA) daily, Al Ekhbariya TV said.
The report was aired as the third expansion of the Grand Mosque, the largest in the mosque’s history, has been completed aiming to expand its capacity to accommodate more than 2 million worshippers at the same time.
Energy consumption is distributed across several massive systems and infrastructures in the mosque, which is a major destination for Muslims from all over the world.
They include an audio system with 8,000 speakers, more than 8,000 surveillance cameras, more than 120,000 lighting units, a cooling system with a capacity of 155,000 tons, 883 air conditioning units, 4,323 ventilation and misting fans, 519 escalators, and 100 interactive screens operating in 16 different languages.
The report has generated wide feedback with some commentators suggesting that the costs of these services be covered through special fees levied on hotels and other businesses in Mecca to ensure sustainability.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims from inside and outside Saudi Arabia flock to the Grand Mosque during the Islamic sacred month of Ramadan amid stepped-up efforts by authorities there to cope with the inflow. The influx further swells during the final days of the lunar month.