South Korea’s LS Industrial Systems (LSIS) has been awarded a $45.8m contract to build gas insulated switchgear (GIS) facilities in Iraq.

LSIS will build two GSIS facilities in the capital city Baghdad, one in Mosul, northern Iraq, and one in Karbala, southwest of Baghdad. GSIS facilities convert and distribute high-voltage power for household and factory use.

Iraq is facing a severe shortage of power capacity in the short-term, with the country currently hosting a total domestic capacity of 7,500MW and peak demand in the summer of 2013 expected to reach 16,000MW.

Iraq’s Electricity Ministry is planning to spend $27bn on electricity projects by 2017 as it seeks to expand the country’s power capacity.