Basmajh: the return of light to the eyes of Iraqis after the darkness stretched for years
The electricity crisis in Iraq has reached to a standstill, there was no use with temporary and random prosthetic solutions, as well as a huge waste in the wealth of Iraq and not to take advantage of them, where Iraq is losing every day , 700 million cubic feet of gas, and this is enough to produce 2500 megawatts.
The electricity crisis is virtually incurable and chronic, due to the reluctance of the operating companies, and failure to comply with and abide by its promises in the electricity sector, and overlapping of energy problems in generation, distribution and transportation with the lack of seriousness in actually dealing with the crisis, and the accumulation of financial and administrative corruption.
Iraq and enters today a new phase, and important in the development of the energy sector, as the Ministry of Electricity signed an investment contract with MAS Group Holdings Ltd. , to build a power Basmajh station, to contribute to end the bottlenecks in areas south of Baghdad, along with its transformation of electric power to the residential complex of Basmajh “; on the basis of the decision Council of Ministers No. 90 for the year 2014 to give investment license to build the production station of electrical power .
According to a ministry statement that it signed a contract with MAS Holdings Group Ltd. With the presence of the Minister of Electricity Qassim Mohammed Fahdawi and Vice Chairman of the National Investment Authority and Chairman of Board of the management of Mass company Ahmed Ismail where the company has been given a sovereign guarantee by the Ministry. ”
Prime Minister Haider al – Abadi, Minister of Electricity and Qasim al – Fahdawi, blessed this contract, which will expand the capacity of the capital Baghdad.
And the manager of Mass Group Ahmad Ismail said after the signature of this contract that station is important because it has the capacity to transfer the energy by 3000megawatts .
The group (MAS Holdings) is working in four key areas: – electricity generation, and the cement industry, iron and steel, and real estate / Mass City.
In the field of electric power generation , the group is currently producing about 4,000 megawatts in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in a manner (BOO) “build, own and operate.”
The group has already begun to establish a power station with a capacity of 3000 MW with a manner (BOO) in the capital , Baghdad. After completion of the project the capacity of the group will reach to 7,000 MW.
The company has achieved success in the field of energy in the Middle East in general and in the Kurdistan region of Iraq , in particular, where it set up a giant projects in the province with an invested exceeded two billion and a half billion dollars in the construction of power units in the region, in a achieving of self – sufficiency of energy in the region, and exceeding of the energy crisis; by providing of electricity , ending the energy crisis in the province , which migrants had helped to its the aggravation.
Among the successful projects of MAS Holdings in the field of energy and industry :
Sulaymaniyah gaseous power station SGPS operating with a capacity of 1500 MW. Station is located in the Chamchamal area – in the northwest of the city of Sulaymaniyah up to 60 km. At the beginning of 2008.
The Dohuk gaseous power station Dohuk , DGPS operating with a capacity of 1000 MW, the station is located in the northern province of Dohuk in Semel area and on the road to Dohuk – Zakho, located about 35 km from the center of the province of Dohuk.
Baghdad gaseous power station , BGPS operating with a capacity of 3000 MW , the station is located in the southeast of Baghdad , just 25 km from the capital. It was contracted with the Ministry of Electricity in Baghdad.
The Arbil gaseous power station EGPS operating with a capacity of 1500 MW, the plant is located in the south of Irbil province, which lies about 22 kilometers from the center of the city of Irbil, a space of station occupies an area of 750,000 square meters.
The Mas company of Iraq for the production of iron and steel with a capacity ofmillion and a quarter million tons of iron annually.
the Mass – Bazian Cement Factory with a capacity of 6 million tons and consists of three lines , each line with a capacity of two million tons. It is a giant factory that created by Mass company of Iraq for Industrial Investment Company / Sulaymaniyah (one of Mas Group Holding Companies) , among other giant strategic projects.
The project of Riyah- Tafeileh energy with a capacity of 100 MW, and the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been signed produced from Riyah power plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts and be established in Tafila and on the sidelines of World Jordan Summit of Energy (Jordan International Energy Summit JIES2).
The ( Global MAS Holdings Group ) was featured with high credibility, good reputation, that made it trusted by IFC, a subsidiary of the World Bank Group , which announced the submission funding worth $ 375 million for Global Mass company of Energy in Sulaymaniyah,
and the financing includes , which includes a range of investment loans in equity, $ 250 million from the private account of the institution , and $ 125 million from Audi Bank, Mass global energy company will use this funding in Sulaymaniyah to add a production capacity of 500 MW to electricity production plant with a capacity of thousand megawatts in Kurdistan region of Iraq; which contributes to provide electricity to about 3 million people.
It was in Baghdad on Wednesday , 28 / December / 2016 opening of the first phase of the project of Basmajh station for investment which works with a capacity of (1040) MW in the first phase., In the presence of the Minister of Electricity Qassim Mohammed Fahdawi, and the President and Vice Chairman of the National Investment Commission, and the chairman of MAS Holdings .
The minister said at the opening ceremony: “We are proud opening of the first investment – generating station, carried out in record time, and in a difficult situation, to contribute significantly to provide the national electricity system, and in the first phase, the share of the province of Baghdad will be big ones being within the geographical location of the capital . , the MAS Holdings company will continue in the implementation of this station project to reach a production capacity to 3,000 megawatts, covering the needs of the electric power of the capital Baghdad, densely populated “The MAS is the only company implemented the first phase among of the introduction of six investment companies .
the minister thanked president of the National Investment Commission, and the company is executing the project and all those who contributed to its success, pointing to the possibility of executing company and its success in the Kurdistan region.
chairman of the National Investment Commission Sami al – Araji praised , the electricity minister ‘s efforts to follow up implementation of the project, and to overcome the obstacles faced by the executing company, as well as thanks to the employees of the Ministry of Electricity, and the Investment Commission of Baghdad, expressing at the same time his delight to achieve this success , which he considered it as the second after the completion the residential complex in Basmajh. The chairman of the Board of the management of MAS Holdings executing the project Ahmed Ismail expressed his delight to enter the first four generating units at the Basmajh plant for investment to service, and linked it to the system of the national electricity, each unit of energy (260) MW, the total capacity of (1040) MW, pledging the ministry officials and investment staff and energy committee in the Council of Ministers to the completion of the station entirely before the summer of 2018.
Summary about the Basmaja electric station
Basmaja station is the largest project in the history of Iraq, the station consists of eight gas modules of the type (Frame 9-FA) per unit capacity of 260 MW.
the gaseous Tabines operates with two types of fuel (natural gas and liquid fuel / diesel), and diesel is preserved in six tanks , Each tank with a capacity of 10,000 m3.
It is expected that the plant will be put into production phase for simple cycle (Simple Cycle) of the year 2016, and at the same time has been initiated to establish the combined cycle (Combined Cycle) to take advantage of the heat emitted from the exhaust emerging from turbines , reusing the heat in special boilers, with a capacity of 920 MW without additional fuel consumption , and this leads to increase the production efficiency and helps the environment to get rid from combustion waste and reduce the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere. After the completion of the combined cycle ,the power of plant to become 3000 MW.
Chairman of the Board of management of “MAS holding” Ahmed Ismail, is considered among the global Iraqi business men in general and Kurdistan regime in particular , a self – made man, not from wealthy of chance, nor from the accidental businessmen who emerged after the 2003 in Iraq with the support of their parties.
And Ahmed Ismail is one of the prominent symbols in building the Iraqi economy for his contribution in many areas for the construction of infrastructure in Iraq, and he is not of those who seek to the posts but of those who have achieved success on more than one level with self effort and high self – confidence, making him to enjoy with the confidence of international financial institutions.
Ahmed Ismail records a lot of national positions, including his direct sponsorship, material and moral support to a large number of students in universities, especially graduate students.
Shatha Khalil
Translated by : Mudhaffar Alkusairi
Unit of Economic Studies
al-Tghier Channel report about the article titled: Ahmed Ismail Saleh brings light to the Iraqis after years of darkness and stalled energy projects
Sources:
al-ghad ‘s Press, Arabic
site of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity
site of Mass Group Holding
www. Iraqdirectory.com
Http://marayanews.com
Http://www.alliraqnews.com
Http://www.alarabiya.net
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies