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By Ali Abdel Sadah  for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has admitted to a “defect and stupidity” in the contracts signed by Iraqi officials with international companies to improve his country's power distribution.

On July 23, in a Baghdad meeting with economic affairs experts broadcast by Iraqi satellite channels, Maliki said that he had “formed a committee to investigate the failure of Iraqi officials specialized in electricity.” He charged, “They were giving me wrong numbers. They said that Iraqis are getting 30,000 MW [megawatts] and that this amount exceeds their needs and can be exported abroad.”

On June 20, prominent Shiite leader and Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussein al-Shahristani had asserted, “By the end of this year, power generation in Iraq will be sufficient to meet the citizens’ needs, as pledged by the Ministry of Electricity.” He also claimed, “Electricity distribution hours in Baghdad range from 15 to 16 hours a day.”

Despite promises by officials that residents would receive 18 hours of power a day in 2013, the current reality indicates that they are receiving much less. Indeed, based on the firsthand experience of this Al-Monitor correspondent, Baghdad residents on average enjoy six hours of electricity, at most, while some areas of the city remain completely without electricity.

Iraqis are frustrated and exhausted by the country's power supply problems. Officials have for eight years alleged progress in the electricity sector. Today, Iraqis have no confidence in the validity of such statements and generally ridicule them.

By John Lee.

According to a report from World Bulletin, a new 750-megawatt (MW) power plant in Mosul city is planned to be completed and operating by September 2013.

Build and run by Turkey's Calik Energy [Calik Enerji], it will be Iraq's fourth-largest power station; the company's other plant at al-Khairat in Karbala is the country's largest, currently generating 1000 MW electricity with eight turbines, but due to increase to 1,250 when two more turbines start operation after the Ramadan holiday (Eid al-Fitr).

Calik will then be producing a combined total of 2,000 MW from the two plants, representing about one-eighth of Iraq's production.

The Mosul plant employed 110 engineers and 1000 employees, and cost $388.5 million to build.

(Source: World Bulletin)

By John Lee.

A spokesman for the Electricity Ministry, Musab al-Mudaris, confirmed on Tuesday that Iraq has signed a deal with Iran to import natural gas for power generation.

Associated Press reports that under the four-year deal, Iraq buy 850 million cubic feet a day of gas at international market prices, but UPI says no financial details were disclosed.

The gas will feed a power plant in Diyala, and two others in the Baghdad, generating 2,500 MW.

Javad Oji [Owji, Ouji] (pictured), managing director of the National Iranian Gas Co, said:

"Construction of the 140-mile [long] 48-inch [diameter] gas pipeline is nearing completion and its extension in Iraq territory will also come to an end in the next two months."

(Sources: Associated Press, UPI, Dow Jones)

ABB has won an order worth around $30 million from Zagros Energy to build four new transmission and distribution substations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, as part of an overall initiative to expand and strengthen the regional power grid. The order was booked in the second quarter.

Demand for reliable power is growing at a rate of 10 to 25 percent per annum, thanks to industrial growth, construction projects and overall economic development. Currently, the Kurdistan power grid supplies around 2,750 megawatts (MW) of electricity with more than 90 percent of the capacity owned and operated by independent power companies.

The increasing demand for electricity means that outages and blackouts are frequent. In the short term, a capacity expansion to approximately 4,000 MW is planned; longer term, the ambition is to reach 10,000 MW, which would open up the possibility of exporting power to neighboring countries.

ABB’s project scope includes the design and supply of the substations and will enable an additional 600 MW of power to the region. The substations are based on GIS technology, which was selected for its compact footprint, since they are to be located in the center of the city.

Two will be connected with 132 kilovolt (kV) underground cables due to the lack of space for overhead lines. Circuit breakers and air-insulated switchgear, control and protection systems, capacitor banks as well as power transformers and other high-voltage equipment, will form part of the key product supplies. The project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

“These substations will go a long way towards helping this developing region meet the increasing demand for electricity,” said Oleg Aleinikov, Head of ABB’s Substations business within the company’s Power Systems division. “They will also strengthen the grid, reduce outages and improve the reliability of power supplies to consumers.”

(Source: ABB)

By John Lee.

Mass Global Investment Company has selected GE steam turbine technology to increase the efficiency and the output of the Erbil Power Plant in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

In operation since late 2008, the Erbil plant plays a vital role in meeting the growing power needs of Kurdistan, Iraq.

Under the new agreement, GE will supply two steam turbines that will be used to convert the Erbil plant from simple to combined-cycle operation, boosting plant output by 500 megawatts, enough additional electricity to serve 100,000 Iraqi households. The agreement also includes installation services.

Ahmad Ismail, Chairman of Mass Global, said:

"Mass Global continues to be at the forefront of meeting the power requirements of the Kurdistan Iraq region. Converting our Erbil facility to combined-cycle service supports the Kurdistan Regional Government's policy to increase the thermal efficiency of its power generation facilities. This new agreement builds on our growing relationship with GE, a global technology leader, whose proven and reliable advanced energy technology has been employed in our gas power facilities since 2006."

The project will increase thermal efficiency to more than 48%, making Erbil among the most efficient power plants in Iraq. The GE C-7 steam turbines will join eight GE Frame 9E gas turbines already operating at the site and further expands GE's growing relationship with Mass Global.

By John Lee.

Nawzad Hadi, Governor of Erbil, has visited the Kore-Qandil road project to review progress.

On his visit Mr. Hadi was accompanied by Deputy Governor Tahir Abdullah, general directors of roads, municipality and water resources in Erbil, in addition to the Mayor of Shaqlawa.

They started their visit at the Kore-Qandil road, a 49-km highway being built by the Yuksel Company at a cost of $220 million. During their visit the team insisted on finishing the project in the current year, including the tunnels at Sorki and Mirawa.

Later they visited the towns of Harir and Basirma where they checked 50,000 m2 of asphalting; another 75,000 m2 of tarmacking is ready to be carried out. They also visited the 3-billion IQD mobile electric generator which will supply all electricity needs in the Harir and Basirma area.

(Source: Erbil Governorate)

From Iran’s PressTV. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iran has reached an agreement with Iraq to increase its electricity exports to its western neighbor. Nearly 150 megawatt of electricity is expected to be added to the volume of Iran's electricity exports.

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity has also expressed its willingness to import about 25 million cubic meter of Iranian gas for its power plants, every day.

The ministry stated that a 300 million dollar gas pipeline will be completed by the end of this year.

ABB, the global power and automation technology group, has won an order from LS Industrial Systems (LSIS) to deliver a utility communications solution that will serve seven electricity distribution control centers in Iraq.

The project is part of a larger infrastructure improvement initiative currently being carried out by the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq, aimed at establishing a dependable power network to support economic and social development in the country. The order was booked in the second quarter.

ABB will deliver a communications system, capable of transmitting data from 428 distribution substations and 150 maintenance centers in the grid to seven regional control centers. The system will include broadband wireless radios to carry both data and voice transmissions, ensuring reliable operation of the grid and supporting the speedy identification, isolation and resolution of faults.

“The establishment of an effective communications system is key to the reliability and efficiency of the grid” said Jens Birgersson, head of ABB’s Network Management business unit, a part of the company’s Power Systems division. “The breadth of our portfolio and expertise in smart grid technologies enables us to provide a multicomponent system from a single source.”

Communications play a key role in coordinating operations in electricity networks. It provides the high-performance data services required by most operational networks and supports multiple applications. For this project, that includes operational telephony and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) services.

The high-capacity wireless communication network being delivered in Iraq will bring a number of advantages to the grid. The radios can communicate over distances in excess of 50 km to provide a scalable, highly flexible and cost-effective solution. Wireless communication is well-suited to challenging terrains and built-up areas.

ABB’s comprehensive communications offering comprises fiber optic, power line carrier and wireless services, including the recently acquired Tropos wireless mesh technologies, enabling ABB to serve customers in the power, transportation, mining and public infrastructure sectors.

(Source: ABB)

By John Lee.

Greek construction company METKA, a subsidiary of the Mytilineos Group, has announced the signing of a $1.05-billion contract with Iraq's Ministry of Electricity for the construction of a combined cycle power station in Anbar.

The deal involves the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a natural gas-powered plant with a capacity of 1,642 megawatts.

It will be built over a  32-month period, after the issue of the letter of credit.

(Source: METKA)

Keynote address by Dr Ashti Hawrami, KRG Minister of Natural Resources, to the CWC Iraq Petroleum Conference in London:

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a pleasure to be invited once again to the Iraq Petroleum conference in London. Thank you to the organizers CWC. We look forward to seeing you in Erbil at the Kurdistan-Iraq conference in December.

Ladies and gentlemen, since protests erupted across the Middle East in 2011, international attention has shifted from one scene of unrest to another.

Naturally, the impact of these turbulent developments has been felt in Iraq, which unfortunately has further added to our post-war insecurity as we continue to witness political instability and daily acts of violence.

This is why it is essential more than ever that Iraq’s current politicians continue to engage in constructive dialogue and to seek consensus as to the best ways to share the country’s power and wealth, demanded by the basic law of the land, namely the federal Constitution.

Iraq’s citizens have learned the tragic lessons about what happens when control of a country’s wealth and power rest in the hands of a few.

Given Iraq’s diverse religious and ethnic composition, we know that all attempts at enforcing majoritarian rule in such a diverse society often leads to bloodshed and always are doomed to failure.

The KRG remains committed to working with all other political blocs in Iraq to solve some of the more intractable problems, through dialogue, negotiation, and respect for the rule of law, namely the Constitution.

In this respect, the recent initiative of KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to visit Baghdad, and the return visit of the federal Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to Erbil, reflect the seriousness with which Iraqis are trying to solve their own problems.