The New York-listed GE Vernova announced on Thursday that it has agreed on several strategic initiatives with the Iraqi government aiming to boost generation and enhance the availability of power supply across the country.
The announcements were made on the sidelines of the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani’s visit to the US and meeting with President Joe Biden.
- Letter of intent with the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity (MoE) to inject 3 gigawatts (GW) of energy into the grid, generated by highly efficient combined cycle power plants. Additionally, the MoE and GE Vernova reiterated their commitment to move forward with the conversion of two sites, Samawa and Nasiriya, from simple to combined cycle, as well as to expand capacity at the Al Mansouria gas power plant.
- Five-year services and upgrade agreements with the MoE to enhance the availability and efficiency of over 70 turbines and generators at 18 power plants, with a total capacity of up to 7.5 GW.
- Memorandum of Understanding with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to accelerate the use of flared gas to boost power generation
- New Monitoring and Diagnostics (M&D) Centre to be built focusing on GE Vernova’s electrification software capabilities, which will also support Iraqi talent development through the specialised training of local engineers. The Centre will monitor core power assets across 18 sites powered by GE Vernova’s 9E gas turbines.
Zeyad Ali Fadhil, the Iraqi Minister of Electricity said: “As electricity demand in Iraq grows, we continue to work with leading companies like GE Vernova, to ensure that the power needs of residents and industrial users are met in a timely manner through advanced gas power generation technologies, on-time servicing and maintenance of energy infrastructure, and an accelerated use of flared gas, in collaboration with the Ministry of Oil. As an example, in preparation for the peak summer demand season in 2024, the MoE and GE Vernova’s teams completed the MXL2 upgrade on two of GE Vernova’s 13E2 gas turbines at Al Mansouria power plant, with a total capacity of up to 266 megawatts (MW). Additionally, our teams continue to work on maintenance and upgrade projects covering up to 3.8 GW of capacity.”
“In 2021, GE Vernova proposed a 10-point strategy to help accelerate Iraq’s energy transition, including a series of measures that were part of today’s announcements,” said Joseph Anis, President and CEO of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Over the past 10 years, the company has added up to 19 GW of capacity in Iraq, completed up to 30 substations and delivered phase one of the interconnection with Jordan, which was inaugurated by the Iraqi government in March 2024.
Furthermore, GE Vernova has supported the government of Iraq to secure over $ 3 billion in funding for energy sector projects since 2015. The company employs over 200 people in the country, more than 95 percent of them Iraqis.
