GE Global Services UK has secured a significant contract with the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq to upgrade and repair existing turbines across 10 sites. Valued at $220m the contract will deliver an improved, more secure power source in Iraq and power millions of homes across Iraq.
Second project in Iraq to be supported by UKEF since 2017 MOU
This is the second project supported by UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, since the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the UK and Iraq governments in April 2017.
UKEF, in partnership with Swiss export credit agency SERV, will provide the government of Iraq with $210.8m to support the project. UKEF is providing $104.5m of this support as a direct loan, with the remainder coming from a guarantee on a loan from JP Morgan Chase, for which SERV will reinsure UKEF.
This is project is the second of three phases of the wider turbine maintenance programme in Iraq’s ‘Power Up Program’. GE Services UK are contracted to deliver from 2017 to 2019.
They are deploying Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solutions and controls software – a technology that will improve gas turbine performance in the Baghdad, Karba;a, Kadisiyah, Babil, Najaf, and Basrah regions, enabling power plants to operate more dynamically.
‘Laying the groundwork for future UK-Iraq trade’
Upon announcing the support, Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, said:
"I'm delighted that UK Export Finance will be supporting this project under the recently signed infrastructure Memorandum of Understanding between our two governments. This project demonstrates the UK's commitment to supporting Iraq's continued economic development, and through Government support we are laying the groundwork for future UK-Iraq trade."