Iraq’s Electricity Ministry has awarded Germany’s Siemens a contract to upgrade and maintain seven gas turbine/generator units within four gas-fired power plants in Iraq. The four plants have a total installed capacity of 2.62GW; Siemens says the upgrades will increase total capacity by 400MW (15%).
The upgrades contract comes at a time when Iraq has seven gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 10.21GW under construction. The ministry is likely to award further upgrading projects, given that only 16.91GW of existing capacity is operable out of an installed capacity of 26.15GW. Yet despite the strain on Iraq’s gas resources, gas turbine plants are expected to provide up to 56% of Iraq’s electricity this year, up from 47% in 2014 (see tables). (CONTINUED - 835 WORDS)
