Orascom inks USD363m deal for power plant in Iraq 

(MENAFN) Orascom Construction inked a USD363 million deal with Iraq's electricity ministry to construct a new 1,014 MW power plant at Baiji, the Construction Week reported.

Under the deal, Orascom will set up six 169 MW generators, which Iraq bought from Siemens in 2008. Expected to be completed within 21 months

Baiji is a major industrial centre 200km north of Baghdad best known for the largest oil refinery in Iraq, as well as a large existing power plant.

Much of the oil refinery was destroyed during the 1991 Gulf War. It was rebuilt after only a couple of months after the war's end, but the United Nations trade embargo against the country resulted in a deterioration of the facilites through a lack of the parts required for routine maintenance.

Bayji, which is a junction of the national railway network, also has important weapons and chemical plants.