Power generation in Iraq (page 1 of 2)

The electricity sector in Iraq has suffered from the non-availability of spare parts and poor maintenance for the most part of the last decade.

Though Iraq had one of the largest electricity generation capacities in the region accounting for around 10% of the installed capacity in the region prior to the first gulf war, international sanctions and obsolete technology have reduced the actual capacity to a third of the installed capacity of 10,000MW. The situation worsened further due to damage during the war and looting after the second gulf war.

Recognizing the importance of electricity for development, the CPA placed the restoration of electricity services on the top of their agenda. The Commission of Electricity (CoE) was quickly established and given sweeping operational authority as well as financial resources to get Iraq's electrical grid back on line.

The CoE is a relatively autonomous institution overseeing 11 companies covering, generation, distribution, construction, manufacturing and IT. The CoE immediately started bringing units back on line and repairing transmission lines and substations damaged during the conflict, or looted after the war.

The Ministry of Electricity is another body also working to get power plants back on track. Unfortunately though, like the majority of government bodies, it is running out of funds. Sources in the Ministry of Electricity also blame delays in financing for generation and distribution upgrades for the comparatively slow progress the grid has had.

Lack of funds, sabotage and corruption are main issues which have been plaguing the sector. Nonetheless, the CoE and Ministry of Electricity are making double-time efforts in getting the situation back to normal. Deals have been concluded with neighboring countries to import power.

Large scale maintenance projects are also being implemented. According to the CoE, eight of the seventeen 400-kV transmission lines destroyed during the war have been repaired as of October 2003, while of the 746 high-voltage towers that collapsed, 102 have been repaired.

Repair work on the 132-kV network has restored 79 of the 98 lines, while 96 of the 262 132-kV towers that were damaged have been rebuilt. The maintenance project, which was launched by the Ministry of Electricity on October 10 aims at enhancing power capacity by repairing and maintaining generation equipment. The maintenance projects includes repairing above ground cables, cutting high trees near wires and cleaning converters.

Efforts to build new facilities to enhance output have also taken off. Technoprom, a Russian company, began work on a new thermal power station at Yusufia which is expected to be the biggest single power station in the region when finished.

Contracts for the project were signed in 2000 under the Oil for Food Program and the CPA upheld the contracts and allowed work to begin on the project, which resumed in September. Negotiations were previously made with the Abu Dhabi Electricity Authority, which had offered to build four power generation plants in Iraq with a total capacity of 130MW. The outcome of the negotiations has not been announced.

Bechtel and USAID have also been major contributors to the building of new facilities. Both institutions have been working with the Ministry of Electricity to build several new power stations capable of producing 1,200MW a day by the start of next summer.

Bechtel also has three new generation projects underway bringing a further 440MW online at power stations in southern Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mussayyib.