Iraq’s Electricity Ministry is in talks with at least two private companies as it attempts to resurrect its previously cancelled independent power project (IPP) programme.

Jordan’s Mass Group Holdings and the local Ali Shamara Group have signed preliminary agreements to build a series of new power plants across the country, according to sources close to the schemes.

So far, the exact locations of the facilities have not been defined, but Mass Group Holdings is looking at two projects around Baghdad, which will provide a total of 2,500MW. The sizes and locations of Ali Shamara’s plants have not been revealed.

The facilities will use a primarily gas feedstock, with diesel as a standby fuel. Any final agreement, which is expected as early as the end of 2013, will guarantee feedstock supplies. This was a key issue behind the failure of Iraq’s previous IPP programme, with developers complaining they could not bear such a risk.

Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq’s deputy prime minister for energy affairs, said at the end of September that the Electricity Ministry was open to direct talks with any firm interested in providing electricity to the country, saying it was one of the weakest areas of governance. Al-Shahristani leads a committee looking to push the IPP programme ahead.

Baghdad originally launched a tender for a series of IPPs in 2010, but abandoned the plan in mid-2011, after receiving disappointing offers from investors. The four IPPs were to add a total of 2,750MW in generation capacity. The developers were set to be awarded 25-year build-own-operate (BOO) contracts to develop the gas-fired plants using Frame 9E gas turbines supplied by the US’ GE.

Iraq has a current power capacity of about 6,150MW, well short of peak demand of 14,000MW. According to the newly released National Development Plan for 2013-17, demand is expected to rise to nearly 20,000MW by 2017.