Rebuilding the Iraqi Electrical Grid

Even before the recent conflict, Iraq’s national electrical network was only able to provide about half of the power needed in the country. An enormous amount of technical expertise, equipment, and skilled workers are needed to triple the nation’s capacity in the next few years.

IRD is helping the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity expand its capabilities to take on this challenge. The program, which ran from 2008 to 2011:

  • Found qualified experts to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Electricity in planning, project management and reporting, and contracting for the vast number of construction and rehabilitation projects to generate adequate and reliable electric power.
  • Mounted a major public education campaign to assure the Iraqi public that its government can eventually produce sufficient electricity to meet demand.
  • Taught English to Iraqi lawyers working for the Ministry of Electricity so they could understand business and legal terms and conduct professional communications with international engineering firms.
  • Facilitated exchange visits of Ministry of Electricity senior and mid-level managers to their counterparts’ power facilities in the United States to learn about network technology development, operations, maintenance and sustainment procedures, and management techniques.

For more information, please visit the Iraq Ministry of Electricity website, prepared under the TAME project. The website supports TAME's efforts to provide energy conservation training to the MoE and to provide outreach to the people of Iraq on what the Ministry is doing for them.