Custom Search

By John Lee.

An international consortium has received local government approval to build three new power stations in central and southern Iraq, and is now waiting on approval from the Central Government in Baghdad.

They will be built by a consortium of led by Semco Maritime of Denmark, AMH Group of the United Kingdom, and Kayi Construction Inc. of Turkey, along with other British and European firms including Parsons Brinckerhoff and Mott Macdonald.

To discuss the project, the consortium recently met with:

• Vice President Dr. Khodair al-Khozaei [Khudayr Musa Jafar Abbas al-Khuzai];
• Minister of Electricity, Mr. Kareem Aftan Al-Jumily [Jumayli];
• Dr Sami al Araji, Chairman of the National Investment Commission;
• Mr. Hyder Raad Zahid, Head of Corporate Banking at the Trade Bank of Iraq;
• Mr. Zaid Mehdi, Deputy Chairman for Business Development, Trade Bank of Iraq;
• Danish Ambassador, Mr. Gert Meinecke;
• British Head of Mission Mr. Robert Deane, representing the then British Ambassador Michael Aron.

The plants will have a combined capacity of 382 MW.

Iran, ahead of full sanctions by the EU that started on July 1

By Chris Bowers, British Consul General in Erbil. This article was originally published by Rudaw, and is re-published with permission by Iraq Business News.

All good things have to come to an end. After one season short of two years, dear reader, I will be returning to London to spend more time with my family. This will be my last column as HM Consul General in Erbil. My successor, a fine and experienced diplomat called Hugh Evans stands in the wings. I know that he is excited to be coming to the Kurdistan Region.

I hope, dear reader, that through these columns you have been able to read something of what we in the UK think important in the Kurdistan Region and beyond.

What have I learned in my time here?

I have learned that there is a huge appetite in the Kurdistan Region to engage with the international community, primarily the West, to make up for the lost decades of isolation. I have been thrilled to see that within that context Britain retains a special place in the affections of many Kurds. From what I can distil, when a Kurd meets a Brit they assume a knowledge and understanding of the ways of the region, a commitment to quality, a sense of humour and a belief in fairness. Many Kurds have told me their memories about how the UK led in establishing no fly zones in 1991-2 and the role of our soldiers and our airmen as they helped Kurds laid the foundations of what we see today. It is humbling to be here and it is our duty as representatives of Britain to build on these strong foundations.

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday inaugurated the first electricity plant anywhere in Iraq to be converted to a combined cycle system. The conversion will increase the amount of electricity produced without using extra fuel to run the plant, to support the growing electricity needs of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Barzani said,

“As we have announced before in the agenda of the government, facilitating and supporting the expansion of the private sector’s participation in long-term industrial projects is a major goal of this current government. We want to see more factories, more production, and more major agricultural initiatives, and we will do what we can to clear away obstacles to progress, and provide a safe, secure, and reliable business environment.”

The Erbil Power Plant upgrade is being made by Kurdistan’s Mass Global together with Turkey’s ENKA, using two steam turbines supplied by GE to boost output without additional fuel by 470 megawatts, enough additional electricity to serve 100,000 Iraqi households.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has already begun exporting electricity to both Kirkuk and Mosul, helping to alleviate shortages in other parts of Iraq and increasing revenues for Kurdistan.

Mr Sefa Sadık Aytekin, Deputy Undersecretary of Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, said,

“This is a very important project between the Kurdish and Turkish private sectors and such projects are indicative of this solid relationship between the KRG and Turkey, particularly in the energy sector.”

The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to the long-term industrial projects that are a major goal of the KRG. He said,

“As was true when I served in the Fifth Cabinet, electricity, water, and services are the most important priorities of the KRG today also, and we will continue prioritizing these sectors. They are important for our citizens because they will fuel further development in other sectors as well.”

He added,

"As a nation, we must make better use of technology, learn modern work methods, and become more professional and committed in our work habits. We must develop a better work culture; we need to improve our productivity and better utilise our time at our jobs.”

The Prime Minister thanked the American company GE, Belgium’s CMI, and Germany’s ABB and GEA for helping ENKA to complete the project. He welcomed the contribution of international investors and businesses in Kurdistan and thanked them for their hard work in utilizing and expanding their partnership with the KRG and the international community as a whole.

Several KRG and foreign officials participated in the ceremony, including the KRG Minister of Electricity Yasin Sheikh Abubakir Mawati; the Governor of Erbil Nawzad Hadi, and the Governor of Kirkuk Najmaldin Karim.

(Source: KRG)

Iraq's Oil Ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad, said he expects that liquidified gas will be exported from Iraq by the end of next year.

Acccording to a report from Aswat al-Iraq, the spokesman pointed out that dry gas will be exported by 2017, and said Shell confirmed that Iraq is burning about 700 million cubic feet daily "of the extracted gas from the fields utilized by Shell".

This amount of gas could generate as much as 4,500 megawatts of electricity.

(Source: Aswat Al Iraq)

Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has announced that it was producing at a rate of 8,027 MW at the end of June, "the highest since the foundation of the MoE".

Spokesperson Musab al-Mudaris said that production would increase to "up to" (sic) 9,000 MW by end of July.

According to the report from AIN, this compares to total available electricity, both domestically produced and imported, of 6,000 MW last summer.

(Source: AIN)

Iraq's cabinet has approved a supplementary budget for 2012 of 10.875 trillion Iraqi dinar ($9.35 billion), in addition to the $100.5 billion package agreed by parliament in February which was based on an average world oil price of $85 a barrel and crude oil exports of 2.6 million bpd.

According to Reuters, budgetary matters usually pass through parliament after approval by the cabinet.

Spokesperson of the Iraqi Government, Dr Ali al-Dabbagh (pictured), said that the supplementary Budget has been distributed "according to the necessary priorities", incuding IQD 2 trillion allocated to the Ministry of Electricity's projects, 1.4 trillion for the Ration Card, 1 trillion for the Defense Ministry and IQD 830 billion as compensations of the Kuwait War.

(Sources: Reuters, AIN)

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth around $120 million from KAR Construction and Engineering Company Ltd. to design and build a power plant and construct two 400/132 kilovolts (kV) high-voltage substations that will supply power to the Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq.

The 640 megawatt (MW) open cycle power plant will use natural gas from the Khormala oil field and light fuel oil (LFO) as backup to generate electricity from gas turbines. Two 400/132 kV high-voltage substations will help feed the power into Iraq`s regional and national grid, and also supply electricity to the Khormala oil field.

There are plans to convert it into a combined cycle power plant in the future, increasing its capacity to 1,000 MW. This power plant will be the first in the region to feed power into the 400 kV national grid through the new Erbil Center 400/132 kV air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substation.

Since 2007, ABB has designed and built three power plants with a total capacity of 2,000 MW to supply electrical power to the regional grid in the Kurdistan region.

ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission the projects on a turnkey basis. ABB will provide the electrical balance of plant (EBoP) including the connection between the generator and the 400/132 kV substation. Key product supplies will include generator step-up and other transformers, high-voltage equipment such as a 420 kV disconnecting circuit breaker (DCB), medium- and low-voltage switchgear, plant automation control and protection systems. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.

“These solutions will help build critical power infrastructure in the country to serve electricity needs and strengthen grid reliability in the region,” said Brice Koch, head of the Power Systems division. “The breadth of our technology portfolio and extensive project management experience will enable us to deliver an optimized customer solution.”

Substations are key installations in the power grid that facilitate the efficient transmission and distribution of electricity. They include equipment that protects and controls the flow of electrical power. ABB is the world’s leading supplier of air- and gas-insulated substations covering a range of voltage levels up to 1,100 kV.

(Source: ABB)

Iraq's Minister for Electricity, Kareem Aftan al-Jumaili, has opened a new 200MW power station in Missan province, according to a report from AKnews.

The new diesel-fueled station, to the north of Amara, was built by the South Korean company STX at a reported cost of $220 million (260 billion Iraqi dinars).

According to a spokesperson for the ministry, the Iraqi government will pay the costs in installments of 50% a year after the start of operations, and will then pay the rest over two years.

STX will also be responsible for the maintenance of the station for two years.

Iraq currently produces only 7,000 MW of electricity while the demand is more than 15,000 MW.

(Sources: AKnews, AIN)

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $75 million from the Ministry of Electricity of Iraq to extend an existing transmission substation in the Southern part of the country.

The 400/132 kV (kilovolt) Amara substation will connect a new 500 megawatt (MW) gas based power plant as well as smaller power stations, presently under construction, to the grid.

“The substation extension will enable the integration of additional power generation sources and boost power supply to the region,” said Brice Koch, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “It will also help to improve grid reliability and power quality.”

As part of the turnkey contract, ABB is responsible for the project management, design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the substation, including civil works. The project is scheduled for completion by 2013.

Key product supplies include air-insulated switchgear, transformers, shunt reactors and cables. ABB will also supply control and protection systems compliant with the IEC 61850 open communications standard and associated telecommunication equipment.

ABB is the world’s leading supplier of turnkey air-insulated, gas-insulated and hybrid substations with voltage levels up to 1,100 kV. These substations facilitate the efficient and reliable transmission and distribution of electricity with minimum environmental impact, serving utility, industry and commercial customers as well as sectors like railways, urban transportation and renewables.

ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people.

(Source: ABB)

The KRG's minister of electricity, Yassen Shekh Abubakir Mawati [Yasin Sheikh Abu Bakir Muhammad Mawati] (pictured), has announced the creation of five hydro-electric and gas power plants in the region:

• Three hydro-electric power plants at Deraluk-Rashawa Dam, Mandawa-Kopala and Taqtaq;
• Two gas power plants with 200-megawatt capacity each in Qaladze and Harir.

(Source: AKnews)