Mass Global, Iraqi Banks to Fund Power Plant

Private firm Mass Global and Iraqi banks will finance a $3 billion, 3,000 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant being built by Turkey's Enka Insaat in the Iraqi city of Bismayah, the companies said on Thursday.

Enka said on Tuesday it would sign a deal this week with Mass Global for the plant but gave no details.

At a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Mass Global chairman Ahmed Ismail Saleh said the total cost of the plant in Bismayah, just south of Baghdad, would be close to $3 billion.

Enka Insaat chairman Sinan Tara said it would be financed partly from Mass Global's equity and partly from Iraqi lenders.

The Bismayah project will be built in two phases, each with a 1,500 MW capacity.

Enka, which is responsible for the design, procurement and construction of the project, has already partnered with Mass Global on power plants in Arbil and Sulaymaniyah, cities in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Nick Tattersall