This report highlights USAID's overall accomplishments and recent reconstruction efforts in Iraq. For more information, please visit www.usaid.gov/iraq.
USAID assists Iraqis in reconstructing their country by working with Iraq's Interim Government. Programs are implemented in coordination with the United Nations, country partners, nongovernmental organizations and private sector partners.
ELECTRICITY
USAID's goals include the emergency repair or rehabilitation of power generation facilities and electrical grids. Teams of engineers from the Ministry of Electricity, USAID and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working since May of 2003 to restore the capacity of Iraq's power system.
Major Accomplishments to Date
- By October, 2003, rehabilitated electric
power capacity to produce peak capacity greater than the pre-war level
of 4,400 MW. Production reached 5,365 MW on August 18, 2004.
- Since achieving record power production
in Summer '04, the Ministry of Electricity - with assistance from USAID
- has begun the standard Fall maintenance process which will necessarily
reduce the amount of power available for consumption. USAID worked
with the MOE to conduct last Fall's maintenance program.
- Repairing thermal units, replacing turbines,
rehabilitating the power distribution network, and installing and restoring
generators.
- USAID has added 600 MW of capacity through
maintenance and rehabilitation work, and also repaired a 400 KV transmission
line.
- USAID and the Ministry of Electricity
are working with partners to add a total of more than 942 MW to the national
grid by December 2005 through maintenance, rehabilitation, and new generation
projects.
- USAID completed a project to convert
two units that produce 80 MW each to operate on crude/heavy fuel oil instead
of diesel which is in short supply.
- Most recently, USAID has initiated a project to rehabilitate 13 existing substations and construct 24 new substations in Baghdad. These 37 substations will improve the distribution and reliability of electricity for more than two million Baghdad residents.
Highlights this week
Work is 38 percent complete on a USAID project to rehabilitate 13 existing 33kv-11kv substations and install 24 new substations in Baghdad thereby improving the distribution and reliability of electricity for more than two million city residential and commercial consumers. While the work is underway, four new mobile substations will be deployed to provide temporary power. This project will assess the condition of the city's existing electrical distribution network, determine both present and future needs of the system, and restore and expand greater Baghdad's electrical distribution substation network to meet its present needs.
At this time, contractors assessed 13 existing substations and have identified the equipment necessary to install the 24 new substations. All new equipment will be furnished, installed, and tested by USAID contract personnel; Ministry of Electricity (MoE) staff will attend substation operation and maintenance training.
The project was initiated in response to the poor condition of many Baghdad substations and because significant population increases in the past 10 years have outpaced the capabilities of the existing electrical grid. Distribution substations are necessary to transform high voltage electricity distributed from electrical transmission lines to the lower voltage needed for distribution to consumers. The substations transform electricity received from major power plants from 33kv down to 11kv and distribute it through lower voltage feeder lines to the end users - homes and businesses. Repairs to Baghdad's distribution system are critical, as the additional electrical generation has little chance of benefiting the Iraqi people unless it reaches their homes and businesses.
This USAID project will provide new and rehabilitated substations only. The installation of the 33kv primary power feeders for the substations is part of a concurrent project being managed by the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division. The MoE is responsible for the installation of the 11kv feeders that feed into the residential distribution transformers. This project was developed in cooperation with the MoE who provided a list of substations to be reconstructed and helped establish the technical standards for the project design. The MoE also prioritized the order of construction for the substations so that the project delivers power to the neediest areas first. Contractors expect work on this project to be complete by December 2005.
WATER AND SANITATION
USAID's goal is to improve the efficiency and reliability of existing water and wastewater treatment facilities, especially those in the south where water quantity and quality are particularly low. An anticipated 11.8 million Iraqis will benefit from USAID's $600 million in water and sanitation projects.
Major Accomplishments to Date
- Nationwide: Repaired various
sewage lift stations and water treatment units.
- Baghdad: Expanding one water
treatment plant and constructing another to increase capacity by approximately
70 million gallons per day; rehabilitating sewage treatment plants.
- A major wastewater treatment plant in Baghdad began operating in June of 2004; this is the first major sewage plant in the country to operate in over 12 years.
- The sewage treatment system in Baghdad, barely functioning for years before the conflict, will be restored to almost 100-percent capacity, serving 80 percent of Baghdad's population.
- Standby generators are being installed at 41 Baghdad water facilities.
- South: Rehabilitated parts of
the Sweet Water Canal system, including repairing breaches, cleaning the
main reservoir, and refurbished 14 water treatment plants around Basrah
serving 1.75 million people.
- South Central: Rehabilitating two water plants and four sewage plants.
- North: Completed rehabilitation of Kirkuk water plant and continuing refurbishment of sewage plant near Mosul.
- Completed the rehabilitation of a sewage plant in Babil Governorate.
- Sewage plants in An Najaf, Al Qadisiyah, Karbala, and Babil Governorates will serve 440,000 upon completion.
- Water treatment in Najaf and Babil
will serve residents and visitors at Iraq's holiest shrines.
Highlights this week
Final inspections began last week on USAID's project to restore a Najaf water treatment plant. The plant is now running and producing treated water at a reduced capacity; full operation is scheduled to begin later this month. All of the major pumps have now been commissioned and turned over to the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works. To ensure that plant operations continue and maintenance is performed regularly, extensive operations and maintenance training was completed by plant staff. All work at the site is scheduled to be substantially complete in February.
The water treatment plant supplies potable water to the 563,000 residents of Najaf. This project is restoring the plant to its full capacity and water quality standard and will provide high-quality drinking water to the city's residents.
Contractors have installed 25kms of pipe to rehabilitate Baghdad's deteriorating municipal water system. Currently, water losses are at 60 percent - more than six times the acceptable level in U.S. systems. In general, losses stem from system leaks and un-metered uses such as government buildings and fire protection. The result is low pressure and contaminated water, a public health hazard, especially in densely-populated city districts.
To rehabilitate the system, information is being collected to construct a model demonstrating the supply and demand input of major water mains and to assess the costs of improvements. From this analysis, engineers will prioritize rehabilitation projects. The water system rehabilitation is 16% complete and is scheduled for completion in December 2005. The last two phases involve the installation of two pump stations and a vertical pump lift-station.
USAID contractors are rehabilitating a sewage trunkline in a poor, southeastern Baghdad neighborhood. The current system does not meet the growing needs of the community; residents endure frequent overflows causing raw sewage to back up into their homes and streets. Exposed pools of raw sewage contribute to the spread of communicable diseases.
The project includes four phases: assessment, design, installation, and training. The assessment and design phases are largely complete and installation of the new trunkline system is now underway. Operations and maintenance training will be provided for Baghdad Mayoralty staff to ensure the system is properly managed after it is turned over to the City government. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2005.
Work is 66% complete to rehabilitate the water and sewage treatment facilities serving rural, north-central Diyala Governorate. The plants require rehabilitation and expansion to better serve the region's 60,000 residents. Currently, the water treatment plant is operating below capacity and only provides 33 percent of the water needed for the region. As a result, many residents rely on untreated well water during summer months. Use of untreated water can lead to outbreaks of dangerous water-born diseases like typhoid and cholera. This project is scheduled to be complete in May 2005.
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