IRAQ | Mainstream Electricity Sector

[BigDreamer]

Iraq to Award Electricity Contracts by Early 2011


Iraq will award several contracts in early 2011 that aim to boost power-generation capacity by 2,750 megawatts within 18 months, the head of the country’s National Investment Commission said.

Negotiations with several companies are “in advanced stages” for the award of contracts for the additional capacity in the provinces of Basra, Samawa, Diwaniya and Maysan, Sami al- Araji said in an interview today in Amman, Jordan. “They will be awarded in the first quarter,” al-Araji said , declining to give more details.

Iraq, holder of the world’s third-largest oil reserves, has struggled to raise electricity production, which stood at about 8,000 megawatts in April, almost half of its domestic demand of about 14,000 megawatts, according to government figures. Iraqis currently receive power from the national grid for about one in every five hours.

Electricity Minister Karim Wahid quit in June amid violent street protests triggered by severe seasonal summer power shortages. Wahid said at the time that his efforts to overcome the problem had been thwarted by a lack of funding and fuel.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called in June for patience and said it would take two years for power plants being built by General Electric Co. and Siemens AG to come online and help resolve power shortages.

The finance ministry said in June that it would issue bonds to pay for contracts signed in 2008 with GE and Siemens to add almost 9,000 megawatts of capacity.

[sheytanElKebir]

Karbala’s local government has signed a contract with a Danish company to install five new electrical generators in the province.
The head of the Strategic Planning and Constructing committee, Abbas Nasser Hassani told AKnews that a delegation from Karbala local government signed the contract with Danish company Simko, which has offices in Turkish capital, Ankara.
Three of the units will have a capacity of 30 mw, with the other two being 20mw.
He said that the company will complete the project within 22 months of the signing of the contract.
Hassani added, “the output of these stations, added to the contract signed with the American company Caterpillar to build a power station with a capacity of 100 mw, which will cover half of the city’s electric power total needs (450 mw).”
“We called for the federal government to give the freedom for the Iraqi provincial councils to contract with international companies for the purpose enhancing the electricity production.”
Hassani said that the electricity production of these stations will be separated from the national grid, which needs many years to be repaired.
Regarding the decision by the Ministry of Electricity to increase prices, Hassani said that it is not fair to raise electricity prices, because the people are still suffering from the lack of the electricity.
Karbala’s residents get electricity for only one hour in every six.

[sheytanElKebir]

Karbala Council has issued an appeal to its citizens not to pay the new domestic electricity tariffs introduced by the Ministry of Electricity this month, according to AKnews.
The head of Karbala’s energy and fuel commission, Zuhair Samil al-Da’mi, told the agency that the ministry’s ten-fold increase was “completely unfair” in the light of the poor levels of service and supply.
“Why should the prices rise so much when electricity supplies have not improved?” he asked.
Da’mi complained that electricity supplies in Karbala this summer, when temperatures soared above 50 degrees, were so bad that only two hours in six were covered by the national grid.
“Therefore, we call on the people not to pay their bills until the service improves”, he said.
Da’mi added that all of the councils in Iraq’s Middle Euphrates region had gathered in Najaf this week and unanimously decided to reject the ministry’s new domestic tariffs and to demand that they be cancelled.
The federal Ministry of electricity issued the new tariffs to be effective from the beginning of this month in all Iraqi provinces with the exception of the Kurdistan Region.
The 1000% increase in domestic energy pricing was part of a move to encourage the population to consume national energy supplies more responsibly, the ministry said.




this is exactly what i mean! how the hell is iraq supposed to develop its power sector with madness like this?? i bet when they go to amman or dubai they pay the HIGH PRICES and keep their mouths shut. Why the different behaviour inside iraq?

[sheytanElKebir]

French company to establish 8 power plants in Basra
December 14, 2010 - 05:52:32
BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: Basra Governor Shaltaghh Aboud signed on Tuesday a contract with France’s Schneider Electric to establish eight power plants in the province with $29 million, according to a media source.
“The governor signed a contract with a representative of Schneider Electric Company, specialized in electrical projects, to set up eight power plants in the province,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The projects will be implemented in cooperation with an Iraqi partner in separate areas in Basra,” he added.
Basra is 590 km south of Baghdad.

[ardamir]

Imagine the headache the power companies will have when they refurb old power lines. Ive seen pictures of alleys in Baghdad with hundreds of illegal electricity connections.

[BigDreamer]

indeed !!

IMO, they should abandon these old hanging cables (completely disconnect them from the grid, after putting a modern network in place.. by doing this, they can install proper (and secured) metering systems as well ...

[sheytanElKebir]

more construction investments for the gas turbines up for offer.

Basra, Najaf, Anbar this time.

better late than never i suppose!

BAGHDAD | Sat Dec 25, 2010 3:32pm IST
(Reuters) - Power-starved Iraq has invited foreign companies to build three power plants to boost the national grid by 1,250 megawatts, the Ministry of Electricity said on Saturday.

The ministry said a 500 MW plant would be built in each of the southern provinces of Basra and Najaf, and a 250 MW plant in the western province of Anbar.

"The companies will present their offers in the coming few weeks to supply, design and implement these plants," it said.

The ministry did not give a value for the projects.

Iraq, trying to rebuild after years of war and economic sanctions, hopes to triple its electricity capacity to 27,000 megawatts from the current 9,000 MW in four years.

More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's national grid still only supplies a few hours of power each day. Intermittent electricity is one of the public's top complaints.

[sheytanElKebir]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

French company to establish 8 power plants in Basra
December 14, 2010 - 05:52:32
BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: Basra Governor Shaltaghh Aboud signed on Tuesday a contract with France’s Schneider Electric to establish eight power plants in the province with $29 million, according to a media source.
“The governor signed a contract with a representative of Schneider Electric Company, specialized in electrical projects, to set up eight power plants in the province,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The projects will be implemented in cooperation with an Iraqi partner in separate areas in Basra,” he added.
Basra is 590 km south of Baghdad.

more details on this... clarifying the above.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...5bfacf1a7a4.61

BASRA, Iraq — French group Schneider Electric has signed a contract with the local government in Basra to build eight electricity sub-stations in power-starved southern Iraq, an Iraqi official said on Monday.
Construction of the sub-stations is set to begin on January 14 and should take eight months, Ziad Ali of Basra provincial council and head of its electricity commission, told AFP.
A spokesperson for Schneider in Paris confirmed by telephone that the 29-million-dollar (21-million-euro) contract was signed on December 14.
Ali said the deal also contracts Schneider to maintain the installations for one year after completion.

so yes, the contract is for substations not power stations, and the value of the contract certainly reflects that.


but to thicken the plot a bit further... the wall street journal says:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...02-702952.html

France's Schneider Electric (SU.FR) and Areva (ARVCY, CEI.FR) won contracts worth up to $52 million to build 15 power distribution stations that would help end power bottlenecks in the southern Iraqi governorate of Basra, a senior government official said Sunday.

Mohammed Abdul Amir, head of power projects in Basra, said that Schneider Electric has won a contract worth $29 million to build eight power substations, while Areva won a contract worth $23 million to build seven substations.

The new substations would enable the Basra power grid to handle some 2,000 megawatts of power, from the current 700 megawatts now, Abdul Amir, head of the electricity committee in Basra, told Dow Jones.

The two contracts would be financed from the so-called petrodollars that the Basra governorate gets from exporting crude oil from its oil fields. The Iraqi parliament last year passed a law under which Iraqi governorates will get one dollar from each barrel of oil or equivalent they export from their oil fields.

The Iraqi ministry of electricity announced last month tenders to build two new power generation stations in the Basra governorate, with total production of 1,750 megawatts. Iraq also tendered to build six more power stations in other Iraqi provinces.

so now we get the full details!

[sheytanElKebir]

Turkish energy company signs Iraq deal worth $445.5 mln

Published:
A Turkish energy company on Thursday signed a deal with the Iraqi government to build a power plant for a cost of $445.5 million.

The deal between Turkey’s Calik Energy and the Iraqi Electricity Ministry for the construction of the 1,250 megawatt al-Hayrat plant in Karbala.

Calik Holding CEO Ahmet Calik and Iraq’s Deputy Electricity Minister Salam Kazzaz penned the agreement in a ceremony in Baghdad with the participation of Iraqi Deputy Premier for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani and Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Murat Ozcelik.

Speaking at the ceremony al-Shahristani said al-Hayrat plant would be biggest in Iraq when completed in two years time, adding that the plant would create 500 new jobs.

Al-Shahristani said the Iraqi government would open more tenders for the construction of two power plants in Mosul.

[BigDreamer]

good news. Turkish comapnies are great !

[sheytanElKebir]

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

South Korea's Hyundai has won a contract worth $218.9 million to build 500 megawatt- power station near the capital Baghdad, as part of the Iraqi government's efforts to address acute power shortage, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

"The cabinet has approved a request by the electricity ministry to build the gas-fired al-Quds power station," Ali al-Dabbagh, who is also a minister of state, told Dow Jones Newswires after a weekly cabinet meeting.

Dabbagh said the project is based on turn-key basis will be completed in 18 months from start of work.

Turbines for the project have been bought already by the Iraqi government from General Electric Co. (GE).

Iraq, which suffers from an acute power shortage, hopes to at least double its power generation capacity, which stands at only 6,500 megawatts--less than half of the country's actual electricity needs.

The ministry has recently opened bids to build seven large power plants across the country that could boost its power generating capacity by 4,000MW.

More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's national grid provides only a few hours of power each day during summer when temperatures soar to 50 degrees Celsius.

Power shortage is one of the public's top complaints now.

[Persi]

Electricity Ministry Needs $6bn to Solve Crisis

05 February 2011.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said on Saturday that resolving the energy crisis that has plagued the country in recent years will cost an estimated $6bn [7.2 trillion Iraqi dinars].

Musab al-Mudaris told AKnews that the ministry has asked parliament to provide appropriate funds in the 2011 budget to resolve the shortcomings that will prevent electricity provisions in the coming season.

“The ministry has legal obligations with a number of international companies,” he said.

One such obligation is a $219m contract with the South Korean firm Hyundai to install gas turbines in Iraq’s Qudus power station.

On top of the $6bn demanded, Mudaris said that in order to strengthen Iraq’s generating capacity, an investment of between $3bn and $4bn a year is needed.

Former Electricity Minister Karim Washid was forced to resign due to public pressure last summer, following protests about electricity shortages.

According to government figures, the energy available to Iraq is around 9 thousand megawatts, while demand is estimated at up to 14 thousand megawatts during the summer months

[sheytanElKebir]

here we go... as predicted.

Iraq subsidises power after protests over services
Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:05pm GMT Print | Single Page [-] Text [+]
Under the new pricing scheme, consumers will pay 50 dinars per KWH for between 1,000 and 2,000 KWH, 80 dinars for between 2,000 and 3,000 KWH, and higher tariffs for higher amounts.

Electricity demand in Iraq has risen since the 2003 U.S. invasion but the national grid still only supplies a few hours of power per day, a major cause of discontent in a country that sits atop some of the world's biggest oil reserves.

"Iraq's current production is 7,000 megawatts, while actual demand is 12,000 megawatts, so we have a shortage of 5,000 megawatts," Shahristani told reporters.

Iraq has big plans to install turbines and capture gas at oilfields to ramp up electricity production, and needs to spend $77 billion to improve the power sector by 2030, according to a master plan.

Shahristani said power imports from Iran will be increased to 800 megawatts from 500 megawatts, while talks are being held with Turkey and Syria to import about 300 megawatts more.

Rehabilitation and maintenance work on existing power stations will supply an additional 1,500 megawatts before this summer, Shahristani added.

"Despite all efforts, our production capacities will stay below required level needed for next summer", he said.

[BigDreamer]

LOL so long for maliki's promise to "solve the elctricty problem before summer"

[Persi]

Hyundai Power Station Deal Signed

16 February 2011

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said on Tuesday it had signed a contract with Hyundai, of South Korea, for the construction of four new power generating stations at the al-Quds [al-Qudus] Gas Plant.

Musaab Mudarris, the spokesman for the ministry, said the construction of the four new stations with a capacity of 125 megawatts (MW) each, 500 MW in total, is expected to get underway immediately. The project, valued at $219m [264 billion Iraqi dinars], is to be completed within 18 months.

Turbines for the project have already been bought by the Iraqi government from General Electric (GE).

The al-Quds plant, north of Baghdad province, currently produces 900 MW.

Iraq suffers from electricity deficiency, despite the many contracts signed to improve the condition. The lack of basic services, including electricity, has led to public demonstrations recently.

[BigDreamer]

good news

[Persi]

Decision Soon on Electricity Licensing Round

23 February 2011.

Iraq’s Electricity Ministry has announced that 11 international companies presented investment projects under the first licensing round to develop the electricity sector in the country.

The Iraqi government set February 10th as the deadline for receiving offers under this first licensing round.

Musab al-Mudarres, the spokesman of the Electricity ministry told AKnews that the award will be given to two companies, one of which will develop Basra power station, the gas-fired station in the Shatt al-Arab which consists of 10 generating units, each of which generates 125 megawatts, giving a total capacity of 1,250 megawatts.

“The second station in Amara, where four generating units will be installed, each generating 125 megawatts, giving a total capacity of 500 megawatts.”

A decision will be made in about four weeks.

[Persi]

Turkish Company Considers Power Plant in Iraq

27 February 2011.

Turkey’s Tekfen Insaat, a construction company active in 12 countries, aims to build a power plant in Iraq together with a French company as Iraq’s risk profile improves, chief executive Umit Ozdemir said, according to the Kipp Report.

The company is looking into projects in the southern part of Iraq, ha told a conference in Istanbul.

Eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, the national grid supplies only a few hours of power per day, driving up costs for businesses and compounding summer heat, when temperatures reach above 50 degrees Celsius.

Iraq has big plans to install turbines and capture gas at oilfields to ramp up electricity production, and needs to spend $77 billion to improve the power sector by 2030, according to a government master plan.

[Persi]

Plans to Move Electricity Supply Underground

11 March 2011.

A spokesman for the ministry of electricity has reported that plans are being considered to move the national grid underground, in order to prevent citizens illegally taking power supplies directly from overhead distribution lines.

Musab al-Mudarres told AKnews that the practice of taking electricity directly from local power lines is widespread across Iraqi, and the ministry does not have the power or resources to prevent them.

“Underground networks have proved successful in some areas of Baghdad such as Zayouna and Yarmouk where they have replaced the overhead power lines,” Mudarres said, adding that similar projects have been set up in Sadr City and Adhamiya.

Last July the Iraqi government launched a campaign in the capital to put an end to the public theft of national power supplies in response to public protests over limited hours of domestic provision.

According to government figures, the energy available to Iraq is around 9 thousand megawatts of energy, while demand is estimated at up to 14 thousand megawatts during the summer months.

The Iraqi government has announced plans to increase the country’s generative capacity to 27,000 megawatts over the next four years, requiring an investment of between $3bn and $4bn per year.

The majority of households across the Iraqi provinces have between six and eight hours of national electricity each day.

This poor provision of electricity has been one of the main grievances of protestors in the wave of public demonstrations that have swept through Iraq over the past month.

[elusive]

Originally Posted by Persi

Plans to Move Electricity Supply Underground

11 March 2011.

A spokesman for the ministry of electricity has reported that plans are being considered to move the national grid underground, in order to prevent citizens illegally taking power supplies directly from overhead distribution lines.

Musab al-Mudarres told AKnews that the practice of taking electricity directly from local power lines is widespread across Iraqi, and the ministry does not have the power or resources to prevent them.

“Underground networks have proved successful in some areas of Baghdad such as Zayouna and Yarmouk where they have replaced the overhead power lines,” Mudarres said, adding that similar projects have been set up in Sadr City and Adhamiya.

Last July the Iraqi government launched a campaign in the capital to put an end to the public theft of national power supplies in response to public protests over limited hours of domestic provision.

According to government figures, the energy available to Iraq is around 9 thousand megawatts of energy, while demand is estimated at up to 14 thousand megawatts during the summer months.

The Iraqi government has announced plans to increase the country’s generative capacity to 27,000 megawatts over the next four years, requiring an investment of between $3bn and $4bn per year.

The majority of households across the Iraqi provinces have between six and eight hours of national electricity each day.

This poor provision of electricity has been one of the main grievances of protestors in the wave of public demonstrations that have swept through Iraq over the past month.

yes please get rid of those ugly powerlines!!