US-headquartered GE and Iraq's Electricity Ministry (MoE) have agreed to pursue new projects to boost the country's electricity infrastructure.

The parties announced signing principles of cooperation (PoC) for Iraq's energy sector on 16 February.

The initiative aims to explore opportunities including:

• establishing new power plants and expanding capacity at existing facilities
• maintaining and rehabilitating installed power generation and transmission infrastructure
• establishing new substations to relieve grid congestion across various directorates
•  enhancing the inter-connectivity between the Jordanian and Iraqi electricity grids
• driving the decarbonisation of Iraq's energy sector

As part of a services agreement being assessed under the PoC, the MoE and GE also plan to further strengthen local capabilities by setting up a centre of excellence that includes a monitoring and diagnostics facility for the MoE’s fleet, as well as a training centre for its staff.

Iraq’s power generation capacity reached more than 18.5GW in 2019, which is about 6GW short compared with peak demand.

The country imports an average of 1,200MW of electricity annually from Iran to augment supply.

Energy transition

In July 2021, GE announced an energy transition plan for Iraq that includes a potential 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and the generation of an additional 10GW of power by capturing flared gas.

The plan entails converting simple-cycle gas turbine power plants into combined-cycle facilities, as well as the displacement of inefficient power generation fleet.

GE also proposed the use of hydrogen for power generation alongside carbon capture technologies, in order to potentially "remove up to 90 per cent of carbon emissions from gas turbine exhausts".

In April 2021, the Iraqi Finance Ministry, GE and their financial partners reached financial close for a loan agreement for Iraq’s Power Up Plan 4 (PUP4) project.

Under PUP4, GE will provide capital and spare parts, repairs and services to the Qudus, Khairat, Baghdad South, Hilla, Mussayab, Haidariya and Karbala power plants. Its services are expected to help maintain more reliable generation of up to 2,700MW of electricity.

According to GE, 20 gas turbines that are currently not operational at these sites will also be returned to service.

Several key repairs for the gas turbines were to be undertaken at GE’s service centre in Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. The UAE’s federal export credit company, Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), helped to facilitate this.

ECI is also one of the debt reinsurers for PUP4, providing insurance coverage to the lender, JP Morgan.

PUP4 is the first Iraqi project supported by ECI and opens the doors to further collaborations between the UAE and Iraq, GE said at the time.

Photo: GE