Iraq's government is interested in Turkish cooperation to rehabilitate its war-hit electricity power generation network as well as possibly importing Turkish electricity imports. Turkish energy analysts emphasize that the nation can contribute to Iraq's energy projects through technical advice and expertise in energy.
London-based Iraq's Energy Institute head Luay Al Khatteeb said during the "Iraq Future Energy 2011" conference in Istanbul, "Iraq wants to take part in Turkey's master plan for electricity interconnection. Now the countries (Turkey and Iraq) are targeting $10 billion (annual bilateral trade) in a few years' time. Once we start to have surplus capacity, Iraq can be well connected to Europe through Turkey and export electricity through an interconnected regional network. These are goals for the future but they are very possible," Istanbul's Hurriyet newspaper reported.
Word Bank senior energy specialist Simon Stolp commented, "Turkey has an important role in the region. The country can contribute to Iraq's energy projects through technical advice and Turkish expertise in energy. There is an ongoing discussion in developing an integrated network and Turkey will be a significant priority in that. The current transmission links of Iraq are still low in capacity for a regional network."
By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More