Iraq clinches $1.3 bln gas plant deal with Siemens, Egyptian firm

Iraq on Saturday signed a gas plant development deal worth USD 1.3 billion with German industrial group  and Egypt-based firm Orascom, as part of efforts to rebuild the war-torn country’s electricity infrastructure.

The contract was sealed amid ongoing talks over Iraq’s energy infrastructure in the capital Baghdad, the Iraqi ministry of electricity as saying in a press statement.

The deal entails complete renovations to a pair of gas plants in Iraq’s northern Salahuddin province at a total cost of USD 1.3 billion, which is expected to ratchet up current production capacity by 1,960 megawatts, added the statement.

Over the long term, the deal envisages building new generation capacity, upgrading existing power plants and expanding transmission grids, it said.