|
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: Interview with Director General of the Electricity Ministry
BAGHDAD, 22 September 2003 (IRIN) - Mohsen Hassan has a tough task at hand. As Director General of Iraq's fledging Electricity Ministry, he now has to deal with the regular power cuts in the city of Baghdad, blamed on sabotage, while trying to restore electricity to millions of Iraqis and extend the grid to millions who never had power.
Ironically, the electricity went off in Hassan’s office during IRIN’s interview with him, thus highlighting the power-supply problem. However, the Ministry of Electricity is co-located with the Ministry of Oil, and a generator for the building kicked in after five minutes, bringing back the lights, but not the air-conditioning.
In his interview, Hassan said the ministry needed continued support from donors, noting that it could take up to two years before electricity is restored on a 24-hour basis.
QUESTION: What is the Ministry of Electricity’s budget for next year?
ANSWER: The required budget for the electricity sector is more than US $6 billion [next year]. Our minister for electricity is now meeting the American Congress to discuss this measure. So, at least we will have $6 billion to start the maintenance programmes, the rehabilitation programmes and new generation, plus projects that were stopped 12 years ago (by United Nations sanctions).
Q: What kind of projects were stopped?
A: Thermal power generation, a thermal power station at Wasat, a gas unit station at Al Kut (south-east Iraq), and a lot of other projects. If we start with a new programme, we can build a system next year that will fulfill the requirement of electricity for the Iraqi people.
Q: How many hours of electricity do you expect to provide with the new projects?
A: Our target, if we are to have success, is 6,000 megawatts. We can fulfill the requirement for 24 hours if our programme is going well. By the year 2006, however, we have to reach 10,000 megawatts (to get the economy running again).
Q: Do you make up the shortfall with electricity from Syria and Turkey?
A: From Syria, we now get about 30 megawatts, up to 50 megawatts. But this is not enough really and it doesn’t affect our main system. We have isolated the northern town of Mosul (to get the new electricity) because of the difference between the two systems. This is from Syria. From Turkey, on the 23rd of this month, we will get 50 megawatts to start with. We’ll end up with 200 megawatts maximum from Turkey. Iran and maybe Kuwait are under study now. There is a proposal, which we will look at.
Q: How much electricity do you need from these other countries?
A: The neighbours cannot provide much - maybe no more than 300 [megawatts]. This is a very small quantity of electricity. But now that the minister is in the United States, we hope to build about 1,000 to 2,000 megawatts in the coming two years.
Q: Is that a new generating plant?
A: That’s new generation, yes. It’s an impacted programme. We have to put in about 2,000 (megawatts) now. We studied the locations and we will put generators in new places in the system.
Q: Is it possible to bring a generator from outside to handle all the needs?
A: From outside, of course. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) will help with this purpose. They located some money for this. Also, military forces now are going to put maybe more than $300 million to purchase small units, gas units or maybe diesel units. Firstly, we have to put them around Baghdad and in other governorates. As for the small units - our plan is to put them in operation before next summer.
We will bring generators before next summer. The other projects should start by the begining of next year. You know the big projects take three years, or more than three years to complete, so we need to get this up and running.
Q: What about sabotage to the lines? I understand lines are getting fixed and immediately are destroyed again.
A: Yes, we’re still suffering from sabotage. We constructed a lot of 400-kilowatt lines connecting the south and middle and north regions, but this sabotage puts us back to square one. Now, the CPA and US forces have a plan for security so we can complete our programmes. Our work is in three stages. In the short-term, we will build about 4,000 megawatts up to the next maintenance period.
The second programme is for next summer, about 6,000 megawatts. The long-term programme is to build about 10,000 megawatts by the year 2006.
Q: Are you on track to do that or do you need more money?
A: Our problem is money. We don’t even have a budget for next year. So we hope to get this budget from Congress in order to fulfill our programmes. We also expect a lot of material now. I heard that more than a hundred trucks will reach Baghdad in a few days. They have spare parts and equipment for the maintenance - the short-term and long-term maintenance programmes.
Q: Under the sanctions, how did you keep everything together - the power plant was working, but obviously not enough?
A: We didn’t have any spare parts in our warehouse. Our power stations were working in abnormal conditions because of that situation. Now, we have 12 hours of electricity per day, three by three, three supplied, then three off. Before, we had the same amount of power, but Baghdad kept all of it. Now all the governorates are supplied in equal status, so Baghdad gets less.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Economy, (IRIN) Environment, (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
