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Iraq started restoration of electricity network, damaged by ISIL | ||
| 31/08/2014 | ||
Musab al-Mudarres, spokesperson for Electricity Ministry of Iraq said that they had performed maintenance and repair work on several power plants and transmission lines which "suffered sabotage and attacks at the hands of ISIL gangs and during clashes with those terrorist groups" Engineers and technical staff have repaired the high voltage line connecting the Anbari cities of Haditha and al-Qaim, which has a capacity of 400 kilovolts, he said. He mentioned, "Three other high voltage lines connecting the cities of Heet and Ramadi, each with a capacity of 132 kilovolts, have been repaired, as well as a fourth line which connects the city of Fallujah with western Baghdad." Power transmission towers also have been repaired, he said. Staff reconnected wires that had been severed between towers and repaired a lightning arrester and transformer at the Ramadi power plant, both of which were damaged during battles with ISIL. Additionally, "workers from the upper Euphrates power transmission departments in Diyala province repaired two high voltage lines" and activated two power plants: the Dali Abbas mobile station and the Diyala 4 station, al-Mudarres said. In Salaheddine province, electricians restored a power transformer in the city of Balad which had been knocked out of commission by gunfire, and fixed a high voltage transmission line connecting Balad to Samarra. Al-Mudarres added that repair work also was carried out in southern Baghdad, where two high voltage lines had been sabotaged, with a respective capacity of 400 kilovolts and 132 kilovolts. He added, "Our staff has exerted exceptional efforts around the clock to restore electric power to citizens' homes, to the level it was before the terrorists attacked and damaged our energy facilities." Electricity Restoration Ministry advisor Adel Hameed said staffs are putting every effort into fixing the electricity networks and power plants damaged by ISIL. He said, "Terrorists have attacked power plants and blown up electricity towers and wires, causing large quantities of available energy to be lost and depriving residents of several northern and central areas of power supply." Work to repair electric infrastructure in Iraq will continue at full speed as part of national plans to restore and boost a variety of services to areas the government has retaken from ISIL, he said. Energy expert Abdul Ilah al-Ameer praised the work of the ministry in repairing and rehabilitating energy networks and restoring power supply to citizens. He mentioned, "Destruction and repeated attacks on electric power facilities and transmission lines by ISIL have damaged the electric power sector considerably in terms of production and distribution." H further said that electricians and staff have performed remarkable work to reactivate non-functioning lines and plants. Balad resident Haqqi Ismail also commended ministry efforts to restore power to his neighborhood. Ismail urged the ministry to strengthen its services and work to increase the number of hours of power supply, "especially during this time of the year when the weather is hottest". | ||
Last Update:: 31/08/2014 | ||
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