Elsewedy Electric and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) have announced the completion of EPC contract for four gas insulated switchgear (GIS) substations, 400/132/11 kilovolt in Sothern Iraq.

 

At a ceremony witnessed by officials of the Government of Iraq today in Basra, Asaad Al-Eidani, the Governor of Basra with Ziyad Ali Fadel, the Director of the General Directorate of Electricity Transmission in the South Region joined the President and CEO of Elsewedy Electric, Ahmed Elsewedy, and TTC Project Manager, Yasuhiro Hidaka, to officially inaugurate Shat Alarab substation in Basra as the last substation connected to the Iraqi grid.

 

The ¥60 billion ($546 million) EPC-plus-finance contract was signed on February 2018 under a buyer's credit agreement (export loan) between the Iraqi Ministry of Finance and The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), with a co-financed portion by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (lead arranger) and Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation under insurance cover by from Japan’s Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).

 

The contract included Maysan 400/132/11kV GIS substation in “Al-Amara Governorate”; Al-Muthanna 400/132/11kV GIS substation in “Samawa Governorate”; Shattra 400/132/11kV GIS substation in “Al-Nasiriya Governorate”; Shatt Al Arab 400/132/11kV GIS substation in “Al-Basra Governorate”; and 12 x 132/33kV Mobile GIS substations.

 

All GIS switchgears and high voltage transformers were manufactured by Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) and equipment for 132/33kV mobile substations from Meidensha Corporation. 

 

The substations are expected to provide power for a combined total of approximately 1.3 million households.

 

Elsewedy Electric, which designed and built the 400/132/11kV GIS substations, qualified its engineers for testing and commissioning of GIS switchgear and transformers through an intensive training in Toshiba factories in Japan and India. 

 

Despite many challenges, Elsewedy Electric succeeded in completing each 400/132/11kV GIS substation ahead of the Contract schedule; approx. six months earlier than original schedule, where Maysan and Al-Muthanna were energised before Summer of 2020 then Shattra and Shatt Al Arab were energised before Summer of 2021.

 

Elsewedy Electric relied along the project on 1,200 Iraqi engineer and technicians supported by 180 Egyptian professionals, emphasising on a business model for all its projects in Iraq leveraging on the Iraqi workforce while providing on-job development and training programmes. 

 

“Completing five major challenging projects to the esteemed Iraqi Ministry of Electricity in five years while progress is ongoing in New Babil substation targeting 2022 spring reflects our strong commitment towards Iraq infrastructure development. Our products also are supplied to Iraq since 2005 and recently we committed to develop industrial park starting by factories of Elsewedy Electric serving the Iraqi market with further targets to export from Iraq to neighbouring markets,” commented Ahmed Elsewedy.

 

Elsewedy Electric delivered Al Diwaniya 500 megawatt power plant to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity in 2015 as EPC main contractor. Currently, in a consortium with TTC, Elsewedy Electric is building New Babil 400/132 kV substation, under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) finance.-- TradeArabia News Service