Symbion inks power deal with Iraqi Kurds

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Iraq's Kurdish government awarded U.S. company Symbion a power project deal intended to connect all three northern provinces to the power grid.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's Electricity Ministry will pay the Washington, D.C.-based company $33 million for the 132 kilovolt electrical transmission and distribution project that links Aqra, in Dohuk province, to Khabat, in Erbil province.

This is an extension of the Aqra-Dohuk substation project. The company said in a statement that when it's completed, "the network through all KRG governorates will be complete."

"Symbion intends to invest heavily in the Kurdish region and will continue to work in the development of this important area and in the rest of Iraq," said Paul Hinks, chief executive officer of Symbion Power.

The semiautonomous KRG in Iraq's north suffers from electricity outages like the rest of the country because of Saddam Hussein's prerogatives and the past five and a half years of war. Demand for electricity in Iraq has also increased.

Iraq has had to import electricity, and for the KRG that means relying on power from Turkey. This has been complicated by Turkey's military incursions into northern Iraq, as well as shutoffs from the northern neighbor for various reasons.

Aqra had also relied on power from a 33 kilovolt line from Mosul, though high demand and insurgent activity often cut electricity.

More than 34,000 consumers will have electricity when the project is completed.