Iraq inks preliminary agreement with GE towards electricity deal

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — General Electric (GE) signed a Principles of Cooperation (POC) with Iraq’s Electricity Ministry on Sunday, aiming to win a contract that would shore up the country’s power grid, add jobs, and save money.


“The plan is expected to generate up to 14 gigawatts (GW) of power, create up to 65,000 direct and indirect jobs, support the government to realize savings and recoverable losses of up to $3 billion per year, establish a local technology center and support water and healthcare access,” read a statement from GE.

Iraqi Electricity Minister Qassim Mohammed al-Fahdawi confirmed the preliminary agreement after meeting with Joe Anis, GE's Power president and CEO for the Middle East.


“It includes supporting the Iraqi government's vision in developing the energy sector and revive the national economy through the rehabilitation of a number of generation units, transforming a number of others into combined cycles, adding new production units, besides supplying different capacity transformers, training employees, and providing consultations on reducing losses in the sector of electricity energy distribution,” stated the ministry.


The country’s power grid is aging and overwhelmed.

“The future contracts formulas will be prepared based on this memorandum to pave the road for signing them and to implement them to resolve the crisis of electricity in the country,” added the Iraqi statement.


US-based GE and Germany-based Siemens are each competing to win a reportedly $15 billion contract. They are negotiating with governmental officials who face an uncertain future as Iraq continues to form a new government. 

Fahdawi met with Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser and Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Energy Thomas Bareiss on Saturday in Baghdad. They signed a memorandum of understanding to explore implementing Siemens’ proposal for Iraq’s power sector.


The administration of US President Donald Trump was reportedly putting pressure on Baghdad to favor the US company over the German one.