French energy player TotalEnergies has announced, among other things, that it will develop a 1 GW solar power plant to supply electricity to the Basrah regional grid in Iraq.
In agreement with Iraqi authorities, TotalEnergies said that it will invite the Saudi company ACWA Power to join this solar power project.
The Gas Agreement
While confirming all the terms of the Development & Production Contract signed in 2021, TotalEnergies and the Iraqi Government have, through exchanges in the past months, including in 4 occasions between Prime Minister Al-Sudani and Chairman & CEO Patrick Pouyanné, jointly defined the necessary conditions and mutual insurances to move forward with the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP).
The Iraqi Government and TotalEnergies have agreed on a 30% stake for the Basrah Oil Company (BOC) in the GGIP. Furthermore, in agreement with the Iraqi Government, TotalEnergies has invited QatarEnergy to take a 25% stake in the GGIP.
The consortium will thus be composed of TotalEnergies (45%), Basrah Oil Company (30%) and QatarEnergy (25%).
TotalEnergies welcomes the continuity of the voice of the State of Iraq on this Development & Production Contract, which is a strong and positive signal for foreign investment in the country.
Signed in September 2021, the GGIP has for main purpose to enhance the development of Iraq’s natural resources to improve the country’s electricity supply.
According to these agreements, TotalEnergies and its partners will invest approximately $10 billion (100% share) to recover flared gas on three oil fields in order to supply gas to power generation plants. It will also build a seawater treatment plant in order to provide water injection for pressure maintenance to increase regional oil production, as an alternative to the use of fresh water from rivers and aquifers.
Last year, Iraq’s Electricity Minister Adel Karim said that the country is mulling to award solar power projects of a capacity of about 5000 MW to foreign firms in 2023.
The UAE based Masdar has also started the development of solar power projects with a combined capacity of 1 GW in Iraq.
