Iraq might have new supply by end of 2004

BEIJI, Iraq -- Iraq's electrical system could be producing as much as 12,000 megawatts of power by the end of this year, the electricity minister said recently.

Speaking at the opening of the Beiji Mobile Power Plant just north of Tikrit, Ayham al-Sammarae said the new plant, which went online recently, will supply 184 megawatts of power to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' ongoing Restore Iraqi Electricity program.

''Hopefully we'll be able to reach 12,000 megawatts by the end of the year,'' he told electrical workers, U.S. engineers and soldiers.

The power station, about 140 miles north of Baghdad, is made up of eight portable diesel-powered turbine generators and is expected to push overall electricity production for the national grid to 6,000 megawatts by the summer, al-Sammarae said.

Associated Press