BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) -PowerChina has won a contract worth around $4 billion to build Iraq’s first large-scale seawater desalination plant in the southern city of Basra, in partnership with an Iraqi company, officials said on Thursday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani inaugurated the project, which will have a daily capacity of 1 million cubic meters and is expected to begin commercial operations in June 2028. The plant is part of government efforts to address severe water shortages in the southern region.
The project also includes the construction of a 300-megawatt power plant to supply electricity to the desalination facility, according to two Iraqi officials and a project document seen by Reuters.
(Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra; Additional reporting by Ahmerd Rasheed in Baghdad; Editing by Jana Choukeir and Louise Heavens)
