Capital's electricity supply gets major boost

A newly refurbished 96-megawatt generator has come online at a power plant to the northwest of Baghdad, bringing enough electricity for more than 275,000 homes, officials said this week. It is the second generator to come online at the northern plant since the US-led reconstruction project started last year and takes total power generation in the country to 5,300 MW, well above the 4,400 MW level under the previous regime. In September, a 17-MW generator was brought online at the site along with a 7-MW generator to the south of the capital. The work is part of a US $150 million investment by the Iraqi government and Coalition forces to bring more than six generators online at the northern site by the beginning of next year. This will raise electricity output at the plant to 1,588 MW, giving enough power to serve 4.7 million homes, the Ministry of Electricity (MoE) said. "It's a very important result, which will help us to alleviate the shortage of power throughout the country. We will soon reach our goal of increasing power to Baghdad and to the south [of the country]," Raad Shalal, a senior official at the MoE, told IRIN. Shalal added that demand for electricity is still rising, in part due to some new factories starting up, despite the still severe economic problems dogging the country. Since repair work on disused or dilapidated generators began nearly a year ago, an additional 1,621 MW have been added to Iraq's national grid, enough to service 4.8 million Iraqi homes. Baghdad is currently getting nearly 18 hours of power every day, a vast improvement compared with last year. "The partnership with the MoE and the Iraqis is making good progress in bringing the country more electricity," Major Erik Stor, operations officer for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Restore Iraqi Electricity Directorate, told IRIN. "We know how important electricity is to the safety and security of the Iraqi people, and we continue to work with the ministry to bring the country additional electricity." Stor added. But the capital will not be fully served until repairs are completed at the major Baiji power plants to the north of the city, which is not expected to happen until next year. As part of efforts to improve both security and the economic situation in the north of country, but south of Kurdish areas, civilian companies and USACE have been partnered with the US 1st Infantry Division to repair the Baiji Power Plant complex. The Baiji plants employ 2,000 local civilians, 1,200 of which are permanent. As of August, the 1st Infantry Division had spent more than $1 million on parts for the plant. The three plants were generating a little less than 400 MW during Saddam's time. Since then, the Coalition has worked to repair the important complex. In August, it was generating about 800 MW and provided the national grid with over 500 MW last week. Already civilians are starting to feel the benefits of the repair work. "I'm very happy to feel the difference of the power in my home. I have electricity practically all day. It's really fantastic. Now I start to feel that the government is doing something for the Iraqi people," Bashar Obeidi, a Baghdad resident, told IRIN.