The Mutanabi 33/11 kV substation is one of (22) completed recently in Iraq’s southern nine provinces. This facility will provide electricity to more than (30,000) and last for decades. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project is a rehabilitation and expansion of the Mutanabi 33/11 kV substation at a cost of $2.47 million. It had been in the process of being turned over to Iraqi authorities since October, said Fitsum Kebede, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project engineer for Najaf. The substation is located in the Al Mutanabi/Kufa area of Najaf Province.

As part of the process, the contractor had to complete testing, energizing and commissioning of the substation in the presence of Ministry of Electricity (MoE) officials, according to Kebede, who said everything was completed and that substation operations were initiated last week.

Kebede, who is attached to the Forat Area Office of the USACE Gulf Region South (GRS) district, said (30,000) people are receiving power from the substation. Completion of the project was marked locally by a ceremony and public remarks by Iraqi officials.

Allan Giese, a Corps of Engineers electricity sector representative, said the contract was started in September 2005 with Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund money. He said the project took longer to finish than expected, as has been the case with many electrical projects in Iraq, due to issues including job site security and MoE and Director General concerns.

But in the end the contractor turned the substation over to the MoE, Giese said, marking "a successful completion of a facility that should last at least 40 years."

The substation is one of (22) power stations of the 33/11 kV variety to be completed recently in the southern nine provinces of Iraq served by GRS, according to Giese, who put the total cost for these projects at $55 million.