GE has signed a 'Power Up Plan' with the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity for critical electricity generation and maintenance projects throughout the country.

 

The 'Power Up Plan' comprises a set of technological solutions and upgrade projects to ensure essential incremental power, adding 700MW to the national grid in time for the summer period, said a statement.

 

The value of the contracts signed totals more than $1 billion with financing already in place for the initial stage of projects, equaling $328 million, it said.

 

Mussab Al Mudaris, speaker of the Ministry of Electricity, said: “We are committed to strengthening our infrastructure to meet the growing demand for electricity, particularly during peak summer months, including the upcoming summer season. 

 

"GE’s Power Up Plan illustrates GE’s commitment to helping Iraq during current economic challenges. The set of solutions it brings includes upgrades and maintenance projects that will strengthen our Power Plant’s productivity and efficiency levels. 

 

"Our integrated approach to strengthening the capacity of our national grid aims to support economic growth by delivering assured power supply to meet the needs of infrastructure development as well as domestic consumption.”

 

Azeez Mohammed, president and chief executive officer, Power Services, MEA, said: “The GE Power Up Plan for Iraq, launched under the patronage and guidance of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Electricity, with the support of the US embassy in Baghdad, is a unique initiative that underlines our strong commitment to Iraq, where we have over four decades of partnerships in the power sector. 

 

"With the introduction of our Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution and related works agreed upon to the heavy duty gas turbines at the power plants, we can significantly scale up capacity while also minimising operational downtime. 

 

"GE’s turnkey approach to the upgrades will help meet the peak summer demand for electricity, and enable MoE’s power plants to sustain higher levels of productivity and operational efficiency in the future.”

 

GE has commenced the shipment of parts and began the on-site execution of these projects at MoE plants in Iraq, said the statement.

 

The technology upgrades include, among others, heavy fuel oil conversions that will help scale up productivity in addition to installing advanced hot gas path components at the various gas turbines.

 

AGP technology advancements feature hardware design and materials improvements to the components of GE’s gas turbine hot gas path system, it said.

 

These innovations were coupled with GE’s advanced controls software to expand gas turbine performance and enable the power plants to operate more dynamically. 

 

The ministry will supply the heavy fuel oil to the sites, where the HFO technology is being installed, due to the scarcity of natural gas resources and to leverage the capacity of the new units during the upcoming summer season. - TradeArabia News Service