ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced Thursday the launch of the Rashava- Deralook electricity station in the town of Amedi near Duhok.
The power plant will be instrumental in restoring energy to the shattered town of Shingal, which was recently retaken by the Peshmerga after a year and a half in the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS), KRG officials said.
The cost of the project is $168 million, and 37 megawatts of electricity will be produced by the station, said Salahadin Babaker, the Kurdistan region’s minister of electricity.
“It is the first time (the KRG) is launching a hydro power project,” Babaker said.
Barzani used the announcement as a platform to rally the people of the Kurdistan region.
“Kurdish people will continue to survive at the most difficult times, and the enemy cannot stop life in Kurdistan.”
During the announcement of the plant, Barzani appealed to the Iraqi government and international groups to help restore the liberated city.
“I ask the International organizations to have an effective role in renovating Shingal, and it is the Iraqi government’s duty to participate in renovating the town,” the prime minister said.
The electricity station project will be supervised by the Japanese company JICA, officials said.
On Monday, Barzani received Japan’s new ambassador to Iraq, Fumio Iwai, and his accompanying delegation. Iwai congratulated the KRG on the liberation of Shingal, saying that Japan respects and values of the Kurdistan region and its success in preserving stability in the region.
