Iraq plans to eliminate power shortages by 2015, said Ala’a Zamil, head of independent power projects (IPP) projects at the Electricity Ministry at the MEED Iraq Power & Gas Projects 2011 Conference on 13 June.

“We are aiming to reach about 20,000MW of capacity in the next four years,” Zamil said. “The aim is to eliminate power shortages in 2015, when demand will be about 16,000MW.”

“Our big challenge is the money,” Zamil said. “We need about $4.5bn a year for production and transmission distribution.”

Zamil said the figures are for Iraq excluding the Kurdish region.