Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended in Berlin on Tuesday the signing ceremony of an agreement between the Iraqi government and Siemens to implement a roadmap for developing the electricity sector in Iraq.

The four-year plan, worth over €14 billion, will strengthen all parts of Iraq’s electricity sector, including production, transmission and distribution.

The plan will create thousands of new job opportunities for Iraqis, support the growth of Iraqi businesses and help develop the skills of Iraqi engineers and other workers.

The plan includes the installation of several transformer stations, and the implementation of the smart grid distribution network in selected areas as the basis for the development of the grid in all provinces of Iraq.

Under the first phase of the agreement, the two sides agreed contracts worth €700 million for 13, 132 kV transformer stations,
cooling systems for power stations and several rapid-installation electricity generating units.

During this phase, an additional 750 megawatts will be added to the grid.

The second phase will be completed over two years and the third over four years.

The two sides also agreed to continue the negotiations to improve further the terms of the agreement, and to ensure that projects included in the roadmap do not affect the work of other companies or limit their chances of investing in Iraq’s energy sector.