Iraq cabinet approves major electricity deal with Alstom

18 November 2011: The Iraqi cabinet has approved a $540 million (approx ` 2,741 crore) contract for French firm Alstom to build a 182.4 megawatt gas power plant in central Iraq. The plant, which should be up and running 18 months after the signature of the contract, is to be built in Mansuriya in the Diyala province, about 50 kilometres northeast of the capital.

Alstom has already been selected to refurbish a gas power plant in the central province of Najaf. More than eight years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq still suffers from a severe shortage of electricity. Iraqis are left with the choice of having only a few hours of electricity per day in a country where temperatures top 50 degrees in the summer, or getting extra power from private generators.

Source: Zawya