GE unit inks power deal worth nearly $3B with Iraq

NEW YORK – General Electric Co. said Tuesday it will sell power-generation equipment to Iraq in a nearly $3 billion deal designed to support the nation's tattered electricity grid.

The company's GE Energy division will supply 56 heavy-duty frame 9E multi-fuel gas turbines capable of supplying 7,000 megawatts of electricity. That's enough power for about 5.4 million homes, according to U.S. Department of Energy statistics.

The deal nearly doubles Iraq's generation capacity from current levels of about 6,000 megawatts per day, GE said, helping boost supply to the country's more than 28 million residents. The turbines will be installed throughout the Middle Eastern nation, with GE also providing technical and management training for the equipment.

The turbines can be powered by a variety of fuels, including crude, GE said.

"In an area like Iraq, that's extremely important," Steve Bolze, president and chief executive of GE Energy's power and water business, said in an interview.

Lengthy power outages have been common in Iraq, with some Baghdad areas getting as little as four hours of electricity a day. Even before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraq's physical infrastructure was plagued by years of war, sanctions and neglect. Outages have been a major source of discontent during the summer when the heat routinely rises above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first of the turbines will be shipped in 2009, and the order will be complete by 2010, Bolze said. GE Energy has plants in Greenville, S.C., and Belfort, France, and expects both facilities will be used to make the turbines.

The turbines will be installed by Iraq's Ministry of Electricity and a third-party firm, which will be aided either by GE employees or a subcontractor, the company said.

Fairfield, Conn.-based GE competed with other companies for the contract, but its long association with Iraqi infrastructure may have worked in its favor. GE has been working in the country since the 1970s, and earlier this year Iraq ordered eight turbines for emergency power. About 120 GE power turbines currently operate in Iraq. The number of GE workers currently serving there, as well as the number that could be sent as part of this deal, was not immediately available, GE said.

"We're very honored to be helping the government rebuild their infrastructure," Bolze said.

GE also does business in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.

Additionally, the company said water technology may soon become a new area of growth in the region.

"As we proceed forward, the water demands ... are very robust," Bolze said.

Calls to Iraq's embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment were not immediately returned.

Meanwhile, GE is expected to provide details on its 2009 outlook during a conference call slated for Tuesday afternoon. Shares of GE rose 52 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $17.47 in afternoon trading.

--------------

BERLIN – Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Monday it has received an order worth about euro1.5 billion ($2.1 billion) to supply components for power plants in Iraq.

Siemens said the order from Iraq's Ministry of Electricity is for 16 high-efficiency gas turbines as well as high-voltage switch gear, transformers, plant control systems and other components.

While Siemens will supply the parts, the plants themselves will be built "by the customer or by general contractors," the Munich-based company said in a statement.

The natural gas or oil-fired plants will be built in the Basra, Kirkuk, Beiji and Baghdad areas, Siemens said.

"When these new power plants go on line in 2010 and 2011, they will make an essential contribution to improving the country's power supply situation, which is currently affected by daily power outages," Siemens energy sector chief executive Wolfgang Dehen said.


===

Corruption court seeks ex-electricity minister's arrest

Raad Shalal al-Ani (center right) stands beside Iranian Ambassador Hassan Danaie-Far (center left) at the signing of a $365 million pipeline contract at the Electricity Ministry in Baghdad on June 30, 2011. (Photo courtesy of the Electricity Ministry)
By STAFF of Iraq Oil Report
Published September 28, 2011
Special forces from Baghdad deployed to Anbar province with orders to arrest former Electricity Minister Ra'ad Shalal al-Ani, but the governor of Anbar province claimed to have blocked the operation. Other sources said Ani was taken into custody.

"There was an order form Baghdad but we stopped it," said Governor Qassim Abid. "They agreed not to arrest him. (Ani) will turn himself in tomorrow."

Iraq's independent integrity commission, an anti-corruption body, has been investigating Ani for ...