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Reuters reports that Iraq has signed a $235-million electricity deal with a subsidiary of Turkey's Enka Insaat to install a 500-megawatt power plant in the Al-Najibiya district of Basra.

The company will install four General Electric (GE) gas units, each with a capacity of 125 megawatts, within the next 16 months, said electricity minister Karim Aftan.

The green-field project will by financed by the local government of Basra.

(Source: Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (pictured) has backed off threats to fire ministers boycotting cabinet, and has instead named temporary replacements, according to AFP.

Maliki's spokesman, Ali Mussawi, said, "we cannot allow the government's work to stop. Their absence gave us two choices -- either fire them or consider them on leave. The cabinet voted that they were considered to be on extended leave".

Their portfolios were temporarily handed to other sitting ministers:

• Deputy Prime Minister responsible for energy, Hussein al-Shahristani, takes over the electricity ministry;
• Planning Minister Ali al-Shukri [Ali Yousif al-Shakari] takes over finance;
• Trade Minister Khayrullah Babakir Mohammed [Kheer Allah Babakir] was handed the industry portfolio;
• Higher Education Minister Ali al-Adeeb [Ali Muhammad al-Adib] takes over education;
• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Safaldin al-Safi [Safa al-Din al-Safi] is charged with Provincial Affairs.

(Source: AFP)

Another year in Iraq, another slew of tragic suicide bombings and jarring political crises. On the other hand, locals welcomed what economic progress they saw as well as the chance to become masters of their own political destiny, post-US-withdrawal, according to this article from NIQASH.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The two biggest events of the year in Iraq seem to have occurred at opposite ends of 2011. At the beginning of the year popular protests took place around the country. They began in Baghdad’s own Tahrir Square and spread to other Iraqi cities.

In Iraq’s version of the Arab spring style protests, Iraqis made it clear that they were angry about high unemployment, government corruption and human rights abuses; their demands also included better rationing and no more interruptions to electricity supply. Protests resulted in a number of deadly clashes between protestors and state forces. But the biggest anti-government campaigns resulted in the removal of the governors of Basra and Kut from their jobs.

Reacting to the demonstrations, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki then established his 100 Day deadline which would expire June 7. During those hundred days ministers and state governors were to outline a plan for improvement or lose their jobs. At the time, politicians argued about what the deadline was really for and what would be achieved. And it seemed the results were uncertain. However looking backwards, from this end of 2011, one would say that, in effect, the 100 Day plan achieved very little.

Iraq’s 2011 was also marked by the kind of political conflict that reflected the country’s own troubled internal realities. Several important ministries were without ministers – these included the ministries of defence and internal affairs – and as the year progressed, and internal schisms deepened, the positions became even harder to fill. Simply put, nobody could agree on anything.

And this was not just about disagreements between the various political blocs. In 2011 there were also plenty of disagreements inside Iraq’s political parties. In March, a handful of MPs from the main opposition bloc, Iraqiya led by former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayed Allawi, left that party. They formed a new group they called the White Iraqiya bloc; they currently have ten MPs.

The Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization has launched a tender to buy 3,400 tons of gasoil per day for 12 months to power electricity generators.

In July 2011, Iraq signed a one-year deal with Iran to receive approximately 1,300 tons per day of gasoil to help power the growing needs of a country already short on fuel.

Over the past eight years, the finance ministry has tried to alleviate the problem with $27bn of disbursements. Power supply has roughly doubled since 2006 from 4,000 MW to between 7,000 MW and 8,000 MW, but demand has also grown due to Iraq's strengthening prospects, from around 8,000 MW to 14,000 MW.

When there are no power failures, Iraqis gets electricity for roughly two-thirds of the day, on average. Mortality in Iraq is still high during the hot summers due to power shortages and failures.

(Sources: Reuters; AKNews)

China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMEC) signed a $1.19 billion contract to build a 1,260-megawatt power station in Iraq, according to Gulf News.

The Beijing-based company will install the natural-gas-fired plant in the Salahuddin governorate north of the Iraqi capital within 45 months, Mussab Serri, an Electricity Ministry spokesman, said in an interview during the signing ceremony in Baghdad.

(Source: Gulf News)

Reuters reports that the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity has signed a contract valued at a total of $69.8 million with the Iranian Farab Company.

The deal is to double the generation capacity of the gas-fired power plant in Sadr City in Baghdad.

According the contract, production should reach 640 megawatts within 12 months.

(Source: Reuters)

Basra Investment Commission has announced a new investment opportunity for the establishment of power plant in the Hartha area.

The new plant will have a capacity of 100 MegaWatts.

Companies interested in this opportunity should contact Basra Investment Commission for more details: [email protected]

(Source: Basra Investment Commmission)

Basra Council has signed the contract for the construction of 12,000 housing units in the Shatt al-Arab district.

The local government allocated 1,600 acres to the project, which is expected to be started within the month and completed within two years.

It is to be carried out by a UAE-based company named Kika (?).

The project includes the construction of infrastructure including water distribution networks and electricity.

(Source: Basra Investment Commission)

Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom, and the Iraqi Vice Minister of Electricity, His Excellency Salam Kazzaz, signed on 11 December, in the presence of His Excellency Karim Aftan El Jumaily, Minister of Electricity, a contract worth approximately €400 million to build the 728 MW Al Mansuriya gas-fired power plant in the Diyala Governorate, northeast of Baghdad. The plant will consist of four units, based on Alstom's GT13E2 gas turbine, and will be constructed under a turnkey contract, covering delivery of equipment and civil works.

The plant will add generation capacity to Iraq's electricity network by providing enough electricity to the entire Diyala Governorate and a part of Baghdad, located 80 km away from the plant. The first unit of the plant is scheduled to be operational in early 2013. Equipment will be manufactured in Alstom's factories in France, Switzerland and Germany. With more than 10 million operating hours accumulated worldwide, Alstom's GT13E2 gas turbine has demonstrated superior operational performance and continues to provide reliable power to millions of consumers worldwide.

Commenting on the win, Mark Coxon, Senior Vice President of Alstom's Gas business said:

"Alstom is proud to be participating in the reconstruction of Iraq's energy infrastructure. I am positive that our superior gas turbine technology, offering outstanding availability and reliability, will support the country in building up secure electricity supplies for the future."

In July 2010, Patrick Kron, Chairman and CEO of Alstom, and the Ministry of Electricity, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development and modernisation of Iraq's electricity infrastructure. Under this MoU, Alstom is currently rehabilitating unit 1 of the Najaf gas-fired power station, 160 km south of Baghdad. The unit was out of operation for five years; the rehabilitation will allow the first turbine, recontribute again an output of 60 MW to the Iraqi electricity network.

Speech by KRG Minister Herish Muharam, Chairman of the Kurdistan Investment Board, to “Iraq – Untapped Opportunities” Conference in London.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m very pleased to participate in this important conference on the untapped opportunities in Iraq. As the Chairman of the Kurdistan Board of Investment, it’s my pleasure to be speaking to you, the British business community and members of the Middle East Association, which has championed trade with the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq since 2006.

Despite a slow start, British companies have been catching up in the past year. Now Britain has the third highest number of firms registered with the KRGMinistry of Trade and Industry, only behind Turkey and Iran. As of June this year, 68 British companies hadregistered. And I was very happy to see that the UK had one of the largest pavilions at the Erbil International Trade Fair this year.

Kurdistan’s Investment Board is in charge of all direct investments except those in the oil and gas sector. So while there are massive opportunities in oil and gas, I will focus on opportunities in other sectors.

I’m proud to report that in Kurdistan we are succeeding in our efforts to attract direct investment, mainlynational and some foreign. Since the Kurdistan Investment Law was passed in 2006, our Region has attracted nearly 16 billion dollars of investment, of which 14 percent was by foreign investors, and 4 percent was through joint ventures. Foreign investment has come mainly from Lebanon and Turkey. But we need to do more to attract investment from Britain and other Western countries. It is entirely understandable that Western companies are wary of newly emerging markets, especially post-conflict regions. But there is a danger that British, American and European firms and investors will continue to miss out.

We are ambitious, we aspire to great things. But we are also realistic and aware of our shortcomings and challenges, such as corruption, red tape and inefficiency. We are taking concrete steps to tackle corruption, for example through the PriceWaterhouse Coopers transparency initiative. To increase the efficiency of ourInvestment Board, we are delegating more of our operations to the provincial level, so that we can focus on our vision, and on the strategies that we need to achieve our vision.