The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity has launched a first-round tender for 755 MW of solar PV capacity that will be built in five provinces. More specifically, the projects entail a 30 MW plant, four 50 MW projects, and two much larger projects, with capacities of 225 MW and 300 MW. They will be spread as follows: 300 MW will be built in Karbala, 225 MW in Babel, 100 MW in Wasit, 80 MW in Al-Muthanna, and 50 MW in Diwaniyah. Additional details regarding when or where the tender documents will be published will be issued later. The projects will be commissioned by the end of 2020 and will help Iraq diversify its energy mix and its power generation sources.
The utility sector is viewed as the top priority in Iraq's reconstruction plans, which is expected to cost around U$150bn. Indeed, Iraq's electricity grid is currently unable to meet the local demand and residential customers are facing rolling blackouts. In 2018, Iraq signed preliminary agreements with the global engineering companies Siemens and General Electric (GE) to support the reconstruction of the domestic power supply system. GE will build around 14 GW of new power generation capacity, while Siemens will build 11 GW. Once deployed, these new capacities could help the Iraqi government realize savings and recover losses of up to US$3bn/year.
Do you want to become an expert on renewable energies auctions?
Discover our very detailed and regularly updated RES auctions database with worldwide coverage and a technical focus backed by academic research.
With our renewable energies auctions service you will be able to monitor auctions at a global level. Its (expanding) scope notably includes all major G20 countries and offers an especially fine tracking on Europe and South America.