Iraq unveils agreements with GE Vernova to bolster power sector

Iraq has made many significant announcements, including the GE Vernova, with the goal of increasing generating and improving the nation’s overall access to power supplies.

The announcements were made in conjunction with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s meeting with President Joe Biden during his visit to Washington, D.C.

The partnerships are a reflection of Iraq and GE Vernova’s shared ambition to collaborate in order to update and enhance power infrastructure, facilitate the shift to lower carbon energy in the future, and foster economic growth.

The stated tasks are in line with the Principles of Cooperation, which Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity and GE Vernova signed in 2023 to look into possibilities for building new power plants and expanding electricity capacity.

These consist of a 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; a letter of intent between the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq and GE Vernova to explore injecting three additional gigawatts (GW) of energy generated by highly efficient combined cycle power plants into the grid; and five-year services and upgrade agreements to improve the availability and efficiency of over seventy turbines and generators at eighteen power plants, with a total capacity of up to 7.5 GW.

Moreover, an agreement was reached to investigate the expedited use of flared gas to increase power generation in specific oil fields through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.