meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Iraq power projects make headway

9 May 2023

 

The inefficiency of Iraq’s electricity generation and transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure is well documented and ironic, given that the country is the second-largest Opec crude oil producer and home to the world’s largest crude oil reserves.

Decades-long protracted armed conflicts have routinely targeted Iraq’s substations, while economic and political upheavals have deterred further investments within the sector.

Over the past few months, however, there have been positive indications that the tide could be turning in favour of Iraq’s plans to improve the sector’s performance and output and reduce its carbon intensity.

In February, US-headquartered GE and Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity (MoE) agreed to pursue new projects to boost the country’s electricity infrastructure.

The parties signed principles of cooperation (PoC) to explore several projects, including establishing new power plants, expanding capacity at existing facilities, and building new substations to relieve grid congestion across a range of directorates.

This is on top of the power generation and T&D projects that the US firm has delivered in Iraq since 2011.

MOE also signed five-year service agreements with Germany’s Siemens Energy for three power plants with a combined total capacity of 1GW in March. Further cooperation is expected to be finalised for conventional and renewable generation capacity of up to 11GW.

In addition, Iraq has an estimated $10bn-worth of greenfield and brownfield thermal power generation projects in various planning and procurement stages, along with some $5bn of solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants, data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects reveals.

France’s TotalEnergies is in advanced talks to develop a 1GW solar power project catering to the southern Basra region as part of its $27bn Iraq energy programme.

“Talks are … progressing positively with the government. There are discussions about contracts and doing development activities,” a source close to the project tells MEED.

Power links

Similarly, plans to link Iraq to the regional GCC, Saudi Arabia and Jordan electricity grids have made good progress in recent months.

In February, the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) confirmed the award of five contracts worth $220m for the construction of infrastructure linking the region’s electricity grid with Iraq’s.

The project involves the construction of a double circuit 400-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Wafra station in Kuwait to the Al-Faw station in south Iraq with a total transmission capacity of 1,800MW and a length of 295 kilometres.

To be completed within 24 months, the project’s first stage is expected to supply Iraq with 500MW of electricity.

Work on the first 150MW phase of the Iraq-Jordan power link is also understood to start this month, following the award of the contract to GE.

A third power transmission link is planned by Saudi Electricity Company and Iraq’s MoE, between Arar in northern Saudi Arabia and Yousifiyah, a township in Iraq’s Baghdad Governorate.

These projects will help alleviate Iraq’s worsening power deficit, especially in the summer months when its existing infrastructure cannot cope with demand spikes.

It could also reduce dependence on Iran, from which Iraq imports an average of 1,200MW of electricity annually to augment supply.

It is understood Baghdad accrued a debt of $1.6bn for its Iranian gas and electricity purchases between 2019 and 2021, although most of the debt, if not all, was reportedly settled in October 2022.

Setbacks

As expected in Iraq, there have been some setbacks despite the encouraging developments.

Norwegian utility developer and investor Scatec has exited the deals it signed in 2021 to develop two solar independent power projects (IPPs) with a total combined capacity of 525MW in Karbala and Iskandariya.

Reports cite that difficulties and delays in negotiations led to the firm’s decision to exit the projects, for which power-purchase agreements (PPAs) are understood to have not yet been signed.

Scatec’s partners for the project, Egypt’s Orascom and the local firm Iraqi al-Bilal, may go ahead with implementing the projects, according to an industry source. 

The start of construction work has also been delayed for the first phase of a planned 1,400MW thermal power plant in Karbala due to the lack of a financial agreement between the developer and the Iraqi government.

Baghdad-based Harlow International was selected to develop the project in February 2021. During the intervening period, it acquired land, signed a power-purchase agreement and appointed China’s Citic Construction to build the first and second phases of the planned power plant. 

Citic has agreed to co-finance the project along with Harlow International.

Decarbonisation route

In addition to an estimated 5.5GW of solar PV projects in various stages of negotiations, other plans are under way to reduce the carbon intensity of Iraq’s energy sector.

For example, the recent PoC that the Electricity Ministry signed with GE includes a proposed 10-point strategy to accelerate Iraq’s energy transition.

The plan includes a flare gas-to-power project so that Iraq can utilise gas that is currently flared to produce electricity. Maintenance, upgrades and rehabilitation of the traditional fuel fleet are also planned.

It additionally includes a combined-cycle conversion programme, which is expected to “enhance efficiency, leading to significant fuel savings and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity”.

Notably, Iraq has tendered and awarded several plant conversion projects in recent years. In February, MOE awarded a team of China’s Dongfang Electric and China State Construction Engineering Corporation a contract to convert a simple-cycle power generation plant in Al-Zubair into a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility.

Similar projects are in the procurement and execution stages. These include converting three power plants in Baghdad and two in Quds.

In 2021, MOE prequalified companies to bid for the contracts to convert two simple-cycle power plants in Diwaniya and Haidariya into CCGT facilities. Other similar projects include an existing power plant in Karbala, which has 10 units of GE’s F9E gas turbines, and another power plant in Najaf, which runs on two GE F9E units.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10822122/main.gif
Jennifer Aguinaldo

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Aldar launches Yas Island community park project

    30 June 2026

    Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Aldar, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Department of Community Development (DCD), has announced the launch of Yas Community Park on Yas Island.

    A key feature of the park is Nabdh Yas, a community hub developed in collaboration with DCD.

    Once open, Nabdh Yas will serve as a central gathering space and host a range of community-led programmes.

    In a statement, Aldar said: “Nabdh Yas will be delivered on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, marking the first time private sector investment has been directed towards this type of community infrastructure.

    “With DCD overseeing the hub’s development and long-term management, the initiative reflects Abu Dhabi’s focus on innovative approaches that generate lasting social value and enhance community wellbeing,” the statement added.

    A memorandum of understanding was signed between Aldar and DCD.

    The agreement establishes a framework to expand the Nabdh Community Hub model across Aldar developments in Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain and Al-Dhafra.

    Last month, Aldar announced its Q1 financial results, reporting a 20% year-on-year increase in net profit after tax to AED2.3bn ($626m).

    Aldar Development recorded a 14% year-on-year rise in revenue to $1.7bn, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased 23% to $599m.

    UAE revenue backlog rose to $17bn at the end of March from $16.6bn at the end of December, with an average duration of 29 months.

    The group attributed its performance to revenue from its development backlog and steady income from its investment properties.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17489270/main.jpeg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Dubai sets August deadline for Airport Express metro bids

    30 June 2026

     

    Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has given consultants until 10 August to submit proposals for a contract to study and design the Airport Express Line, which will extend from Dubai International airport (DXB) in the Al-Garhoud area to Al-Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in the Jebel Ali area.

    The previous deadline was 8 July.

    The proposed line will stretch about 55 kilometres and include five stations, providing passengers with facilities such as remote airline check-in, baggage drop-off and security screening.

    The RTA issued the tender in April, with an initial deadline of June, as MEED reported.

    The new line will run from the Red Line metro station at DXB through Al Jaddaf, along Al-Khail Road to a new station at Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), before continuing to DWC.

    There will be two spur lines. The first will run from the new JVC station to Al-Fardan Exchange metro station at Emirates Golf Club, while the second will branch towards Business Bay, where another station will be built.

    The new line appears to follow a similar route to the Etihad Rail high-speed railway project, which is under construction and due to be completed by 2030.

    The Airport Express Line scheme is the latest metro project to be tendered by the RTA this year. Earlier this month, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had issued the request for qualification notice for a contract to build the new Gold Line, as part of its expansion of the Dubai Metro network.

    Tendering activity is also ongoing for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect to DWC’s West Terminal.

    MEED exclusively reported in April that consultants had submitted bids for the project.

    The extension to the line will run for about 3km and will feature two stations.

    The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17489266/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Eni increases gas production in Libya

    30 June 2026

    The Italian oil and gas company Eni has announced the startup of offshore gas production enabled by the Sabratha compression project in Libya.

    The client on the project was Mellitah Oil & Gas (MOG), a joint venture of Eni and Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

    The Sabratha compression project was designed to increase gas output from the Bahr Essalam gas field, located approximately 100 kilometres off Libya’s coast.

    The scope of the project included the installation of a new 1,600-tonne compression module on the Sabratha platform, equipped with new compression trains, providing an overall compression capacity of about 440 million cubic feet a day.

    In a statement, Eni said: “The new module enables production under low-pressure conditions, offsetting the natural decline of the Bahr Essalam field and maximising gas recovery, ensuring increased volumes of gas of about 800 million cubic metres per year and associated condensate.

    “This additional production will play a critical role in sustaining national power generation, reinforcing Libya’s energy security, and supporting export to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline.”

    The company also said that the project strengthened the resilience of Libya’s gas infrastructure and represented “a tangible contribution to the stability and growth of the country’s energy sector”.

    MOG also has two other projects in Libya that are currently under execution.

    The first is the Bouri gas utilisation project, whose tie-in and commissioning activities are under way following the recent installation of the Bouri gas recovery module.

    The other project, known as ‘Structures A&E’, will develop two offshore gas fields.

    Eni has been present in Libya since 1959 and last year had average equity production in the country of approximately 162,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17489032/main3444.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Jordan faces fresh round of challenges

    29 June 2026

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17479483/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Levant recovers in three speeds

    29 June 2026

    Commentary
    Colin Foreman
    Editor

    The Levant enters the second half of 2026 in a state of uneven recovery. Jordan, Lebanon and Syria are each navigating distinct pressures, but share a common condition: the pace of improvement is being set less by domestic policy than by the willingness of external actors to commit capital and the capacity of local systems to absorb it.

    Syria presents the most dramatic transformation. The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 unlocked a wave of Gulf and international engagement that would have been unimaginable a year earlier. The World Bank estimates the cost of reconstruction at $216bn, and commitments are accumulating. Qatar’s UCC Holding anchors two of the largest, a $7bn power programme and a $4bn rebuild of Damascus International airport. Dubai’s DP World is operational at Tartous under a 30-year concession. Abu Dhabi’s Eagle Hills has presented plans for urban developments in Damascus and Latakia with a reported budget of $50bn.

    Yet the gap between commitment and delivery is wide, and the binding constraint is financial infrastructure rather than investor appetite. Syria’s central bank sent its first Swift message in 14 years in November 2025. Visa and Mastercard processing resumed only in May. Correspondent banks remain cautious on compliance grounds. The IMF has declined to extend a lending programme, citing the need for banking reform and central-bank independence. Until the financial plumbing works at scale, the pledged billions will remain signed announcements rather than funded projects.

    Jordan’s position is more stable but equally constrained. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan has held the fiscal line since his appointment in September 2024, narrowing the deficit from 7.3% of GDP to a projected 5.4% in 2026 under the IMF programme. The $2.3bn Aqaba Port Railway, backed by the UAE, and the $5.8bn National Water Carrier project together represent the largest foreign investment in the kingdom’s history, according to Hassan. 

    But growth is projected at just 2.7% through 2026, well short of what the Economic Modernisation Vision requires, and structural reforms to the labour market have stalled.

    Lebanon, meanwhile, continues to mark time. Political leadership is in place and Block 8 offshore has attracted TotalEnergies, Eni and QatarEnergy, but the country produces virtually no hydrocarbons and its broader economic recovery remains fragile as the threat of conflict persists.

     

    MEED’s July 2026 report on the Levant includes:

    > GOVERNMENT: Jordan consolidates as deeper reforms lag
    > BANKING: Caution governs Jordanian bank lending
    > POWER & WATER: Record investment drives Jordan’s utilities market
    > ECONOMY: Gulf liquidity outpaces Syria’s financial revival
    > PROJECTS:     Momentum builds for Syrian projects
    > OIL & GAS: Activity ramps up in Syria’s oil and gas sector
    > CONSTRUCTION: Prospects improve for Levant construction
    > OIL & GAS: Lebanon taps foreign players to assess resources

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17479313/main.gif
    Colin Foreman