New memorandum with GE will add 3,000 MW to national grid: Electricity Ministry

Baghdad-INA
 
The Ministry of Electricity confirmed on Friday, that the new memorandum with General Electric (GE) Company will add a new 3,000 megawatts (MW) to the national grid, while indicating that the Baghdad street lighting campaign will be completed before the middle of this year.

 “Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani has proven that the energy file is at the top of his priorities, as he topped the electrical energy file the agenda of his visit to Washington,” noting that “the new memorandum with General Electric will add 3,000 new megawatts, with the company contributing 19,000 megawatts,” The ministry’s spokesman, Ahmed Moussa, said in a statement to Iraqia News Channel and followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
 
Musa stated that "Iraq loses $4 billion annually on importing gas, as Iranian gas fills a third of Iraq's need for gas," pointing out that "there is a government trend to reduce dependence on supplied gas."
 
The statement pointed out that "Iraq's need for electricity reaches 42,000 megawatts, while electricity production reaches 27,000 megawatts, as we need an annual increase of more than 2,000 megawatts."
 
Yesterday, Thursday, the Minister of Electricity, Ziad Ali Fadel, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with GE to enhance the efficiency of 18 stations, indicating that it will add 3,000 megawatts to the system.
 
Fadel said in a blog post on the Electricity and the American Company for Maintenance and Modernization of the Electricity Sector in Iraq for a period of 5 years, which includes enhancing the efficiency of 70 turbines and generators in 18 stations in different Iraqi governorates, with a total capacity of 7,500 megawatts, and supplying the national grid with a new 3,000 megawatts.”
 
It added, "These results would not have been achieved without the Prime Minister's support for the energy sector and making it a top priority and at the forefront of the objectives of the visit, in addition to these agreements."
 
The statement continued: "Our ministry is working to secure various sources of energy by concluding electrical interconnection contracts with neighboring and Gulf countries and other contracts in the field of solar and wind energy, in addition to our plans with the Ministry of Oil to invest in local gas to provide fuel to power stations."