Iraq and GE have discussed the technical aspects of a project to connect Iraq’s power grid with Jordan under an agreement signed in September 2020 between the two countries, the Ministry of Electricity said in a statement on its website. 

The statement said the first phase of the project will link Jordan’s Al Risha power plant with Iraq’s 400 kV Al Qaim substation in Anbar Governorate to enable the supply of 150 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Iraq, which will be increased in later stages to 960 MW. 

The statement said GE is carrying out route surveys for the power lines, and connection points, and ground inspections to ensure that it is free of military ordinance before starting work. 

In June, GE had showcased a comprehensive ‘Energy Transition Plan’ for Iraq, which included transformation of the OPEC member into a regional energy hub through a stronger, smarter, reliable, and sustainable interconnected grid.  

Other pillars of the strategy included maintenance, rehabilitation, and optimisation of power plants by improving performance between 5-10 percent and converting assets for a potential 20 percent reduction in CO2; generating an additional 10 gigawatts by turning flared gas in power; converting power plants from simple cycle to combined cycle to generate additional power with zero incremental fuel or emissions and use of hydrogen for power generation in concert with carbon capture technologies, which can remove up to 90% of Co2 emissions from gas turbine exhausts. 

(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon) 

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com) 

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