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Iraq’s Economic Capital “engulfed in Trash”

From Rudaw. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraqi economic capital engulfed in trash, suffers from dilapidated electricity

Home to Iraq’s richest oil wells, Basra should have wealth and development to rival the Emirates.

Instead, the southern province is one of Iraq’s most impoverished – its residents deprived of even the most basic services and infrastructure.

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Construction Starts at 1.6 GW Power Plant in Anbar

By John Lee.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has laid the foundation stone for a new power station in the Al-Furat district of Anbar Governorate.

According to a statement from the Media Office of the Prime Minister, the total capacity of the plant is 1,642 megawatts, at a cost of one billion dollars, and the project will take 3 years to complete.

The project consists of four GT26 gas turbine units [from GE], with a unit capacity of 273 megawatts, and two steam units with a capacity of 275 megawatts.

(Source: Media Office of the Prime Minister)

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A Power Grid for the Middle East — Can it Benefit Iraq?

By Robert Tollast for The National. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

A power grid for the Middle East: what is the GCCIA and can it benefit Iraq?

Since 2012, all GCC members have been connected by cross-border power lines – Iraq could be the next country to benefit?

Click here to read the full article.

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Iraq Diversifies, Expands Sources of Energy and Electricity

By Al Monitor staff. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraq diversifies, expands sources of energy and electricity

Iraq is looking to Arab partners to help expand energy production and imports to meet summer demand.

Click here to read the full article.

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PM announces new Ministry of Electricity and Alternative Energy

By John Lee.

The Iraqi Prime Minister has announced that the Ministry of Electricity is to be renamed the “Ministry of Electricity and Alternative Energy“.

At a press conference in Baghdad, Mustafa al-Kadhimi (pictured) said it is unreasonable to build gas power stations when there is not enough gas available, so the new ministry will actively seek alternative power sources.

In the past, he said, power stations were built, “in an absurd manner, without planning and without knowledge.”

He also referred to the country’s electrical interconnection projects with the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt, which will provide power until Iraq reaches self-sufficiency.

Addressing the annual shortage of electricity during the very hot summer season, he said that last year’s production of 21,000 MW will not be achieved this year, due to the reduction in gas supply from Iran.

(Source: Govt of Iraq)

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Saudi Arabia and Iraqi discuss Connecting Electricity Grids

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, has met with the Saudi Minister of Energy, HRH Abdulaziz bin Salman, to discuss connecting their respective electricity grids.

They also discussed enhanced energy cooperation between the two countries, and the work of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in January to link their power grids.

(Source: Saudi Ministry of Energy)

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Iran Reduces Gas Supply to Iraq, as Iraq Misses Payment

By John Lee.

Iran has reduced its gas supply to Iraq by 5 million cubic meters per day, causing a reduction in electricity production, according to a statement on Wednesday from Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity.

The Iranian government had demanded payment of debts relating to gas supply, which AFP says totals $1.6 billion and dates from 2020, by the end of May. 

The Ministry blames the non-payment on the delay in approving the general budget, and “the search for an alternative solution to the Food Security Law.“

Iraq exported a record $11.436-billion worth of oil in May.

(Sources: Ministry of Electricity, AFP)

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Iraqi Working Group to coordinate with Iran on Gas Supply

By John Lee

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered that a working team from the Ministry of Electricity travel to Iran to solve problems related to the supplying of gas.

At a meeting with the Electricity Ministry and senior officials on Sunday, there was discussion about the high electricity demand in summer, and how to remove obstacles relating to the production and distribution of electricity.

The meeting addressed plans to protect electric pylons from sabotage, and the status of the rehabilitation work on the Baghdad / Baiji 400KV line.

(Source: Office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)

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Iraq committed to Renewable Energy

By John Lee.

The Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, has said that Iraq is committed to reducing carbon emissions through implementing a number of gas investment projects and developing gas fields, as well as projects to produce solar energy.

At a conference in Iraq under the title “Pathways for a lower carbon future for Iraq“, GE presented an integrated roadmap to support the energy transition sector in Iraq by focusing on specific areas, which include:

  1. Use of associated gas for power generation: Iraq can benefit from associated gas to generate more than 13 gigawatts of power, which would meet the needs of up to 15 million houses in the country;
  2. Converting simple cycle (SC) to combined cycle (CC): Converting electric power plants from simple to combined cycle can help enhance their efficiency by up to 50%, and decrease emissions intensity by 35%. GE estimates that if this solution applied to 19 different sites, it can provide approximately 5.3 kilowatts of additional power over a  4 -year period without burning additional fuel;
  3. Use of  hydrogen for power generation, and deploying post combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies: Use of hydrogen as a fuel for power plants and/or adoption CCS solutions in the future can decrease emissions rates to near zero levels in the long term. GE has more than 100 units around the world that are fully or partially hydrogen-powered and collectively clocked more than 8 million man-hours. Many of GE model B, E and F turbines in Iraq can also be modified to run on 100% hydrogen in their operations.

The conference included a presentation of a short film entitled “Renewable Energy – Our Way to Protect the Environment“, prepared by the Media Office of the Ministry of Oil, and another film prepared by General Electric Company about the company and the energy transition.

The conference was attended by a number of Advisers to the Prime Minister, Directors General of the Ministry of Oil affiliates, and a number of specialists and experts in the field of clean energy.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

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