Al Sharqiya

Baghdad - ALsharqiya, August 2: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani affirmed that Baiji will be an important industrial city that represents a pillar of the industrial and oil sectors in Iraq. During the inauguration of the fat refinery affiliated with the Northern Refineries Company in Salah al-Din Governorate, al-Sudani said that expanding national production will strengthen the economy and contribute to providing hard currency. Al-Sudani stressed that the rehabilitation of the Baiji refinery was completed with all its production lines and at the same level at which it was established by foreign companies, noting that with the rehabilitation of this refinery and other refineries and facilities, Iraq will reach the export stage, after covering the needs of the local market. Al-Sudani also inaugurated the North Refinery's 50-megawatt self-generating power plant, which will work to achieve self-sufficiency in electricity, reduce dependence on the national grid, and ensure the continuity of the refinery's operation at full production capacity. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani launched the first phase of the Baiji Gas Power Plant II project in Salah al-Din, with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Al-Sudani said that the energy file represents the basis for any comprehensive development plan, and that his government has allocated the necessary allocations to develop all sectors of production, transmission and distribution to improve energy production across the country. The project is being implemented by a coalition of the German company Siemens and the Chinese State Construction Engineering Group. The contract includes the rehabilitation of six Siemens gas generating units, each with a capacity of 169 megawatts. It also includes a load shedding network consisting of seven diameters with a voltage of 400 kilovolts, supplying the national grid with six lines. The first two units are scheduled to enter operation within 27 months, followed by the rest of the units at a rate of one unit every two months.