AK News reported that Iraq has signed another contract with the French energy company Alstom. This time, Alstom is supposed to build 728 MW power plant in Mansourieh for USD 539 million USD.

This year, Alstom signed several contracts about power plants the last one last month as well as about a high speed railway between Basra and Baghdad in June.

Iraq is suffering from an ongoing electricity shortage in the country. With temperatures often soaring over 50 degrees Celsius during the summer months, demand for electricity in Iraq during this period is estimated at around 14,000 MW. According to government figures, the energy currently available to Iraq stands at around 9,000 MW.

According to a report, issued by the International Energy Development Organization, Iraq would need to spend USD 12 billion USD if it wants to produce enough electricity to meet the current needs. However, the report also assumes that Iraq would need 17,000 MW instead of the current peak demand of 14,000 MW, if the industrial sector was activated

The report criticized the Iraqi government for two reasons. First, Iraq lacks a central distribution center for electricity that would resolve the problem of the imbalanced distribution of electricity. Secondly, Iraq does not allow the private sector to implement investment projects to save energy.

(Sourced from AK News)