Nearly 50,000 Iraqi Homes Receive Increased Hours of Electricity

New gas turbines are delivered to a northeastern Ninewa Plant. Photo Courtesy of Mark Crabtree, Defense Contract Management Agency

Blackanthem.com, Baghdad, Iraq, October 22, 2005

An electric plant in northeastern Ninewa is up and running again for the first time in several years, thereby greatly enhancing the quality of life for local Iraqis. The newly-refurbished plant will produce enough electric power to serve approximately 49,720 homes or businesses in the area and will add a total of 55 megawatts to the national grid. This improvement translates to longer periods of electricity for Iraqis in northeastern Ninewa.

A local Iraqi firm along with the Ministry of Electricity installed the five gas turbines under the original equipment manufacturer’s supervision. Management oversight was provided by the Project & Contracting Office’s (PCO) Electricity Sector and quality control was supplied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division.

The Ninewa plant, totaling approximately $3 million of Iraq Relief & Reconstruction Funds (IRRF) through the PCO Electricity Sector, also will receive an additional $1 million worth of spare parts such as valves, computer hardware, etc. Work on the plant started in early August 2005 and ended one month later.

"Stranded" power plants such as the Ninewa plant had often become inoperable during Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime due to a lack of funding or trained staff to perform required maintenance.

Returning the northeastern Ninewa plant to operational status meant repairing gas lines and completely refurbishing five gas turbines, including blade replacements, realignment of the generator hookup, and replacement of bearings.

Since the gas turbines were small and easy to ship, their initial repair took place in Norway. Security issues prevented the units from being fixed on site, as specially-trained repairmen would have to be brought from outside Iraq and closely guarded against insurgent attacks.

As an example of the difficult security situation in the area, upon delivery of the machines, the delivery crew from the military was mortared 15 minutes after they reached the site. However, no one was injured and the equipment remained undamaged.

The plant is part of Project Phoenix, an initiative which encompasses seven plants and 26 gas turbines and totals upwards of $85 million. Project Phoenix is expected to add approximately 700 megawatts of electric power to the national grid. Established in early 2005, Project Phoenix was designed to refurbish power assets such as plants and turbines that had fallen into disrepair and return them to service.

The Electricity Sector is one of four PCO sectors managing reconstruction projects throughout Iraq. The other sectors are Oil, Public Works and Water, and Facilities and Transportation.

In total, the PCO Electrical Sector is responsible for 434 projects valued at approximately $3.2 billion. This figure includes about $140 million of non-construction funds allocated for equipment and training.

To date, the Electricity Sector has completed approximately 82 projects totaling an estimated $660 million. Currently, an estimated $1,300 million is being used on projects that are now in progress. This leaves $1,250 million for remaining projects.

The majority of 352 remaining Electricity Sector projects are scheduled for completion by December 2006.

The Project and Contracting Office is responsible for contract management and execution of approximately $12.1 billion of the $18.4 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund designated by the US Congress to support the reconstruction of Iraq. The office reports to the U.S. Department of the Army and Department of Defense on matters relating to contracting and project management, and to the U.S. Department of State’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office on matters relating to project requirements and priorities. For more information, please contact Maj. Jim Hawkins at 703-544-6427 or visit our website at: www.rebuilding-iraq.net.

Source : U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division