Malaysia’s Petronas has invited engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to express interest in a deal to build high voltage overhead power lines at the Gharraf field in the south of Iraq.

Petronas, which is leading the development of the field sent a questionnaire to a number of firms on 12 February, asking them to respond by 26 February with their details, ahead of a planned tender in April, according to sources close to the project.

The power line project is part of the Gharraf field’s gas-to-power (GTP) scheme which will capture and utilise associated gas for electricity production. As with much of the south of Iraq, the gas would otherwise be flared.

Associated gas will be separated from crude oil at the Gharraf processing facility and transported to a gas treatment unit to produce fuel gas for power generation. Electricity will then be distributed for operations via a substation at the field. Any excess power will be supplied into the Iraqi national grid through a 132kV high voltage overhead power transmission line to Al-Rifai substation, 12 kilometres away.

The project also includes the upgrade and replacement of the existing 33 kilometre long circuit between the Al-Rifai and Shatra substations. Petronas aims to complete the project in early 2015.

Bids for the gas treatment facility, which will supply feedstock for the power plant are due at the end of February. The gas plant will include two trains, processing 23 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas.