AKnews reported that the first of two new 40 MW generating units has starting turning out electricity at Baghdad's gas fuelled Rasheed power station.

The Ministry of Electricity said that the ministry announced that the second of the two 40 MW units manufactured by the German firm Siemens is expected to be functioning at full capacity by mid July.

Public pressure on the Iraqi government to improve the provision of national grid electricity is high. Limited domestic power provisions were a central gripe in a wave of public protests that raged through the Iraqi provinces this spring. The government is currently plowing money into the country's electricity generating sector in a bid to meet the 14,000 MW domestic demands.

With Iraq's current generating capacity not exceeding 8,000 MW many Iraqi homes and businesses remain without national grid power for up to 16 hours each day. Iraq's power stations and distribution networks already in poor repair after three decades of economic sanctions and successive wars were further damaged during the 2003 allied invasion of the country and subsequent acts of insurgent sabotage.

The government estimates that further annual investments of between USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion are needed to rehabilitate and upgrade the country's grid and power generating plants. In a country where summer temperatures often top 50 degrees Celsius, power consuming air conditioning units are not so much seen as a luxury but a necessity.

(Sourced from AK News)