The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) will start training and rehabilitating around 40 Iraqi electrical engineers in a few days at a cost of $220,000. The company will cover 15% of the cost and the Japan International Cooperation Agency will finance the balance, indicated NEPCO director general Ahmad Hiyasat.
The trainees will come in three groups, each spending a few weeks in the kingdom, he said. Following the US-led war on Iraq, NEPCO, in collaboration with various international institutions, has trained around 80 Iraqi officials in the energy sector. ABB was one of the international electricity firms participating in the training.
“All these efforts are meant to train Iraqi engineers on the latest electric control and operation methods as well as to help them rebuild the power infrastructure and networks that were destroyed after the war,” said the official.
Company officials expect they will be able to train around 200 Iraqi officials by the end of 2004 and early 2005.
Since the early 1990s, NEPCO, which has a capital of JD230m, has provided training and consultancy services to many Arab countries including Iraq, which has recently been connected to an electric interconnectivity project linking Jordan with Egypt. The project is scheduled to extend in the future to include Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.
When connected, Iraq will obtain part of its daily power need estimated at around 18,000MW.
Central Electric Generating Company director general Abdul Fattah Ensour told The Jordan Times that his company will also participate in rehabilitating Iraqi energy personnel by familiarising them with Jordan's electricity generation methods and organising field visits to the kingdom's major power plants.