Iraq’s power ministry on 24 August signed a “heads of agreement” with state firm Power China for a 2GW utility scale power project first reported by MEES last month (MEES, 16 July).

While no completion dates were mentioned, a statement from the office of prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi says that the first phase is expected at 750MW. PowerChina Hubei Engineering Co (HYPEC) is set to be involved in the construction, MEES understands, with financing to come via Iraq’s oil-for-construction facility with Chinese state credit guarantee agency Sinosure. Iraq claims to have signed agreements for a total of 7GW of solar projects but currently has no utility-scale solar power installed capacity (MEES, 16 July). (CONTINUED - 112 WORDS)