The new upgrades are part of a broader effort by the Ministry to modernise the power generation infrastructure to enhance grid stability and capacity, while meeting the growing energy demand in Iraq.
The broader upgrade project regards 46 gas turbines across 12 power plants, which will ultimately add up to 500MW to the national grid before the summer of 2025.
Some of the power plants included in this project – Ninawa, Al Diwaniyah, Hilla, Karbala, Shat Al Basra, Najibiya, Samawa, Dhiqar, Al Khairat and Al Haidariya– already transitioned from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to natural gas, with a capacity increase of approximately 260MW.
The other plants are expected to be modernised within the summer of 2025, with an expected additional increase in capacity of approximately 250MW.
In addition, GE Vernova announced the successful installation of its Advanced Gas Path (AGP) upgrades on several 9.E gas turbines powering Al-Quds, and Dhiqar power plants, and MXL2 upgrades on 13E2 gas turbines powering Al Mansouriya power plant.
The expected output increases of up to 6% for each of these power plants will enable Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity to generate more electricity using the same amount of fuel.
In addition, as part of services and upgrade agreement announced in 2024 with the Ministry, GE Vernova completed maintenance projects across several of these power plants corresponding to a total capacity of 3.7GW, including Qayyarah, Diwaniyah, Al-Haydariyah, and Baghdad South.
Eng. Ziyad Ali Fadhil, Iraq’s Minister of Electricity, said: “These diverse and comprehensive projects significantly advance our goals of expanding electricity generation and enhancing energy reliability, particularly during peak demand periods. The projects also focus on improving power plant efficiency and increasing output without increased fuel consumption, leading to less carbon emissions per amount of fuel consumed.”
In October 2024, GE Vernova announced the completion and commissioning of five critical 132kV substations across Iraq. Additionally, a sixth substation, Al Rasafa Center, was energized on 18 November 2024. In April 2024, GE Vernova also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Iraqi government in Washington, D.C., during the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani to the United States.
Over the past decade, GE Vernova has added up to 19,000MW of power to the national grid. The company has also constructed 30 substations and completed the first phase of the electricity grid interconnection with Jordan.
