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The World Bank Supports Hydropower in
Kurdistan Region-Iraq
13.12.2006
Press Release No:2007/171/MNA
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WASHINGTON,
December 12, -- The World Bank’s Board of Executive
Directors approved today a credit of $40 million for
the Republic of Iraq. The credit will finance urgent
repairs of two hydroelectric power stations located
in the autonomous Kurdistan region and prepare for
their subsequent full rehabilitation.
The Dokan and Derbandikhan Emergency Hydropower
Project will support the government of Iraq’s
efforts to improve electricity supply in the country
in accordance with Iraq’s National Development
Strategy, which emphasizes the need for rapid
rehabilitation of critical infrastructure to improve
basic service delivery.
“The project is the first World Bank operation to
benefit Iraq’s electricity sector. We hope that this
will be the start of a long-term relationship with
the Ministry of Electricity to help Iraq provide a
reliable supply of electricity to the entire
population,” noted Tjaarda Storm van Leeuwen, the
project’s Task Team Leader.
“We are also working with the Ministry of
Electricity to finalize the preparation of a second
electricity project for World Bank financing.”
The objective of the project is to alleviate the
current power supply shortfall by improving the
operating performance of the Dokan and Derbandikhan
power stations through urgent repair works.
The project will also strengthen local capacity and
prepare for the subsequent full rehabilitation of
the Dokan and Derbandikhan hydropower plants in
order to restore their original capacity of 400 and
249 megawatts respectively.
The project is part of Iraq’s overall Electricity
Master Plan and will provide electricity in the
Kurdistan region and to the interconnected national
grid. The project will directly impact about 490,000
households and will also benefit industrial
consumers, thus improving the standard of living and
promoting employment.
The $40 million credit will be provided by the
International Development Association (IDA), an arm
of the World Bank Group that provides financing on
concessional terms to eligible countries. T
he terms of this credit include a 35-year maturity
with a ten-year grace period.
This is the third IDA-financed credit approved for
Iraq. The World Bank has previously approved $235
million in IDA credits for education and road
rehabilitation.
In addition, the World Bank Iraq Trust Fund, within
the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for
Iraq, has financed fifteen projects amounting to
$410 million to improve education, health, household
data, irrigation and drainage, social protection,
telecommunications, urban infrastructure, and water
supply and sanitation.
worldbank org
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