Iraq’s Electricity Ministry is set to award a contract to France’s Alstom to build a 740MW power plant at Al-Mansuriyah in Diyala governorate in eastern Iraq.

The project is to be gas-fired and will use turbines supplied by the French company. It will be built on an engineering, procurement and construction basis. The ministry has earmarked Alstom for the contract following a competitive bidding process.

In a meeting with France’s Economy, Finance and Industry Minister Pierre Lellouche, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani said that the company would be awarded the contract. Alstom expects to receive the formal contract award very soon.

According to France’s Economy, Finance and Industry Ministry, the contract will be worth €550m ($759m). On his two-day tour of Iraq, the minister also opened a new Renault assembly line at Iskanderiyah. The two countries intend to partner on the development of fertilisers and petrochemicals sectors in Iraq.

Pierre Lellouche concluded his visit saying a new stage had been reached in the bilateral economic relationship between the countries. A Franco-Iraqi Joint Commission meeting will be held in January/February 2012.